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Author Archives: hksar gov

Oct212024

CHP reminds public on precautions against heat stroke during very hot weather

East Asia

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (October 22) reminded members of the public, particularly those undertaking outdoor activities, to take heed of necessary measures against heat stroke and sunburn in very hot weather.

     "The public should carry and drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration while engaging in outdoor activities," a spokesman for the CHP said.

     "Those engaged in strenuous outdoor activities should avoid beverages containing caffeine, such as coffee and tea, as well as alcohol, as they speed up water loss through the urinary system," the spokesman explained.

     "Infants and children, the elderly, pregnant women, those with chronic illnesses such as heart disease or high blood pressure, outdoor/manual workers, and individuals who are overweight are more vulnerable to heat stroke. They should pay special attention," the spokesman added.

     The public should adopt the following precautions:
 

  • Wear loose and light-coloured clothing to reduce heat absorption and facilitate sweat evaporation and heat dissipation;
  • Avoid vigorous exercise and prolonged activities like hiking or trekking as heat, sweating and exhaustion can place additional demands on the physique;
  • Perform outdoor activities in the morning or the late afternoon, if possible;
  • For indoor activities, open all windows, use a fan or use air-conditioning to maintain good ventilation;
  • Do not stay inside a parked vehicle; and
  • Reschedule work to cooler times of the day if feasible. If working in a hot environment is inevitable, introduce shade in the workplace where practicable. Start work slowly and pick up the pace gradually. Move to a cool area for rest at regular intervals to allow the body to recuperate.

     
     â€‹The public should also note the latest and the forecast Ultraviolet (UV) Index released by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO). When the UV Index is high (6 or above):
 

  • Minimise direct exposure of the skin and the eyes to sunlight;
  • Wear long-sleeved and loose-fitting clothes;
  • Wear a wide-brimmed hat or use an umbrella;
  • Seek a shaded area or put on UV-blocking sunglasses;
  • Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen lotion with a minimum sun protection factor (SPF) of 15, preferably higher. Reapply every two hours if you stay out in the sun, and after swimming, sweating or towelling off; and
  • While using DEET-containing insect repellents for personal protection against mosquito-borne diseases, apply sunscreen first, then insect repellent.

    
     â€‹If symptoms develop, such as dizziness, headache, nausea, shortness of breath or confusion, rest and seek help immediately, and seek medical advice as soon as possible.
     
     â€‹The public may obtain more information from the DH's Health Education Infoline (2833 0111), heat stroke page and UV radiation page; the HKO's Dial-a-Weather (1878 200), latest weather report and forecast, UV Index and weather information for hiking and mountaineering; and press releases of the Labour Department on precautions against heat stroke for outdoor workers and their employers when the Very Hot Weather Warning is in force.

Red fire danger warning

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

     The fire danger situation today (October 22) is red and fire risk is extreme. The countryside is extremely vulnerable to fire. If you are planning to spend the day in the countryside, please take pre-cooked food for a picnic and take all measures to prevent hill fires. The penalty for lighting fires illegally in the countryside is $25,000 and a year’s imprisonment.


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East Asia

Civil Engineering and Development Department highly concerned about worker at Tuen Mun Area 38 Fill Bank falling into sea

     The Director of Civil Engineering and Development, Mr Michael Fong, is highly concerned about the incident happened at the Tuen Mun Area 38 Fill Bank today (October 21) in which a subcontractor’s worker fell into the sea and went missing. Mr Fong has tasked the project team to make every endeavour to facilitate the search and rescue operation of the Police and the Fire Services Department, seriously follow up on the cause of the incident and carry out a thorough review on safety measures of related work to prevent re-occurrence of similar incidents. 

     At around 12.30pm today, the worker concerned accidentally fell into the sea after mooring a construction vessel. After the incident, related work has been suspended immediately and the work area concerned has been fenced off. The contractor has reported the incident to the Labour Department and has contacted the family of the worker to provide assistance. read more

East Asia

Government appeals to all sectors of community to support seasonal influenza vaccination programmes

     The Government today (October 21) appeals to all members of the public, especially priority groups, to timely receive seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV). The Government has made special arrangements to facilitate priority groups (including school children) to receive SIV through various SIV programmes.

Latest statistics on schools joining SIV programmes

     The 2024/25 SIV Programmes started on September 26. At present, around 870 kindergartens and child care centres (80 per cent), 620 primary schools (93 per cent) and 400 secondary schools (79 per cent) have joined the SIV School Outreach Programme (SIVSOP). As of October 20, 2024, 380 schools have completed the first dose vaccination and more than 77 800 students have received SIV under School Outreach Programmes.

Flexible arrangements on SIV school outreach vaccination services in season 2024/25

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) has been promoting SIV in schoolchildren, particularly young children in child-care centres and kindergartens, and optimising the vaccination programmes in response to the feedback from schools and parents.

     To boost the SIV coverage rate among schoolchildren, special arrangements have been made under the SIVSOP this year to offer a more flexible choice of vaccine options for kindergartens and child-care centres. Kindergartens and child-care centres can choose to provide both injectable inactivated influenza vaccines (IIV) and live attenuated influenza vaccines (i.e. nasal vaccines) (LAIV) at the same or different outreach vaccination activities. Among the kindergartens and child-care centres participating in SIVSOP, 246 schools will offer LAIV, ten schools will offer both IIV and LAIV, and the rest will offer IIV. As a pilot scheme, LAIV is also provided to selected primary and secondary schools which indicated their preference for LAIV earlier this year. So far, two primary schools and four secondary schools have joined the pilot scheme. The Department of Health (DH) will continue to monitor and review the arrangement as appropriate.

     Alternatively, schools can also invite doctors to arrange outreach service for injectable IIV and/or nasal LAIV at their campus under the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme School Outreach.

Ongoing promotion of SIV uptake amongst school children

     The DH has invited all schools in Hong Kong through the Education Bureau (EDB) to participate in the SIVSOP. Upon commencement of the 2024/25 SIV Programmes, the DH has reached out to non-participating schools one by one to understand their difficulties, offer necessary assistance and facilitate them to participate in the programmes. The DH has also liaised with the EDB to issue appeal letters again to the School Heads Association of Kindergartens/Child-Care Centres to promote SIV uptake amongst young children. The CHP spokesman calls on those schools that have yet to join the outreach vaccination programmes to enrol as soon as possible to seize the optimum timing for vaccination and do their part to provide the best protection for schoolchildren.

     Early childhood educators are also important points of contact with young school children and their parents. The DH has met a number of early childhood education and parent-teacher associations, as well as relevant medical associations to promote SIV among young children. The DH urges early childhood educators to join hands in appealing the parents to arrange for their children to participate in SIV, and at the same time to play their part in educating parents on the importance of vaccination to encourage more young school children to get vaccinated. With increased vaccination coverage, the protection of children could be strengthened and their risk of severe illness and death after contracting influenza could also be reduced.

     “Surveillance data up to October 20 showed a total of 34 severe paediatric influenza-associated complication and death cases as recorded by the CHP this year, which is comparable with 41 cases in the pre-COVID-19 era in 2019. Among these 34 cases, 25 (74 per cent) did not receive influenza vaccine, illustrating the importance of SIV,” a CHP spokesperson said.

     A range of health education materials on influenza prevention (including webpage, press releases, pamphlets, and FAQs) has been produced by the DH and disseminated through various channels, especially those parenting media. The DH will continue to maintain close communication with stakeholders (including doctors, schools and other relevant Government Departments). For the latest information, please refer to the CHP’s influenza page and Vaccination Schemes page.      read more

East Asia