The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) is today (May 31) investigating a case of measles infection.

     The case involves a 30-year-old man with good past health, who has developed fever since May 26 and rash since May 29. He attended the Outpatient Department at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on May 29 and 30. He was then referred to the Accident and Emergency Department at Pok Oi Hospital on May 30 and was subsequently admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital for treatment.

     A laboratory test of his respiratory specimen was positive for the measles virus. He has been in a stable condition all along. The patient's measles vaccination history is unknown. He travelled to Vietnam and the United States during the incubation period but had no travel history during the communicable period.

     According to the patient, he did not have contact with measles patients during the incubation period. His home contacts have remained asymptomatic so far and have been put under medical surveillance.
 
     Upon notification of the case, the CHP immediately commenced epidemiological investigations and conducted relevant contact tracing. Investigations are ongoing. The public places the patient visited during the communicable period are listed in the appendix.

     A spokesman for the DH said, "Those who might have had contact with the patient during the period of communicability are urged to observe if they have developed measles-related symptoms, and to seek medical treatment immediately if such symptoms appear. If they need to visit any health care facilities during the period of medical surveillance, they should also report whether they have symptoms and prior measles exposure history to the healthcare workers so that appropriate infection control measures can be implemented at the healthcare facilities concerned to prevent any potential spread."

     The spokesman explained that measles is a highly infectious disease caused by the measles virus. It can be transmitted by airborne droplets or direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of infected persons, and, less commonly, by articles soiled with nose and throat secretions. A patient can pass the disease to other persons from four days before to four days after the appearance of skin rash.

     "The incubation period (the period from infection to appearance of illness) of measles ranges from seven days to 21 days. Symptoms of measles include fever, skin rash, cough, runny nose and red eyes. If symptoms arise, members of the public should wear surgical masks, stop going to work or school and avoid going to crowded places. They should also avoid contact with non-immune persons, especially persons with weakened immunity, pregnant women and children aged below 1. Those suspected to have been infected are advised to seek medical attention as early as possible and reveal relevant contact history of measles to healthcare professionals," the spokesman advised.

The following is issued on behalf of the Communications Authority:
     
     Having considered all relevant submissions by Hong Kong Cable Television Limited (HKCTV) in support of its application for changes in its shareholding structure arising from the issue of new shares by its parent company i-CABLE Communications Limited (i-CABLE), the Communications Authority (CA) approved HKCTV's application. 

      HKCTV is a domestic pay television programme service licensee. According to HKCTV, the purpose of the rights issue by i-CABLE to its shareholders is to raise funds for supporting the operations of the i-CABLE Group. The changes in the shareholding structure of HKCTV will be completed on June 3, 2019. Forever Top (Asia) Limited maintains its present level of shareholding of 43.22 per cent in i-CABLE while there are changes to the shareholding of other parties in i-CABLE.

      In approving HKCTV's application for changes in shareholding structure, the CA is satisfied that HKCTV will continue to comply with the relevant regulatory requirements under the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562) and its domestic pay television programme service licence. The CA is also satisfied that HKCTV will be able to honour the investment and programming commitments it has made under its licence upon completion of the shareholding changes.

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) and its Committees will hold 12 open meetings during the week from June 3 to 7 in the LegCo Complex. Details of the meetings are available in the meeting schedule attached.
      
     The information in the meeting schedule is subject to change. Please refer to the "LegCo Calendar" on the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk) for the latest details of meetings.
      
     Members of the public are welcome to observe open meetings of LegCo and its Committees. Interested individuals and groups are advised to make advance booking of seats by calling the LegCo Secretariat at 3919 3399 during office hours. Members of the public can also listen to or watch all open meetings via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website.

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     Members of the Legislative Council (LegCo) held separate meetings today (May 31) with members of the Yuen Long District Council (DC) and the Kowloon City DC respectively at the LegCo Complex to discuss and exchange views on matters of mutual interest.
 
     During the meeting with the Yuen Long DC, LegCo Members discussed with DC members on the construction of a public market and a cooked food centre, as well as a multi-storey car park in Tin Shui Wai North; progress in extending the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities to include residents' buses; request for expediting the construction of an elevated pedestrian walkway over Yuen Long Nullah for connecting Long Ping Station of West Rail Line to Kau Yuk Road; and request for full replacement of sewers in Yuen Long Town. The meeting was convened by Ms Alice Mak, and attended by Ms Starry Lee, Mr Leung Che-cheung, Dr Lo Wai-kwok, Mr Andrew Wan, Mr Chu Hoi-dick, Dr Junius Ho, Mr Holden Chow, Mr Luk Chung-hung, Mr Lau Kwok-fan, Mr Kenneth Lau, Dr Cheng Chung-tai and Mr Kwong Chun-yu.
 
     As for the meeting with the Kowloon City DC, LegCo Members discussed a number of issues with DC members, including strengthening rodent prevention and control work; addressing community problems in Kowloon City district arising from tourism activities and Mainland tour groups; introducing measures to extend the provision of fibre-based Internet services to old buildings; and building smart car parks in To Kwa Wan district. The meeting was convened by Dr Helena Wong, and attended by Mr Wong Ting-kwong, Ms Starry Lee, Dr Priscilla Leung, Mr Frankie Yick, Mr Yiu Si-wing, Mr Ma Fung-kwok, Mr Christopher Cheung, Dr Chiang Lai-wan, Dr Lo Wai-kwok, Dr Pierre Chan, Mr Lau Kwok-fan, Mr Jeremy Tam, Mr Vincent Cheng and Ms Chan Hoi-yan.

            

The following is issued on behalf of the Child Fatality Review Panel:
 
     The Child Fatality Review Panel today (May 31) published its fourth report on the prevention of child death. The report contains 53 recommendations for the prevention of avoidable child fatality following an analysis of the child death cases in 2014 and 2015 reported to the Coroner's Court.
      
     Speaking at a briefing today, the Chairman of the Review Panel, Mr Herman Hui, said that children are our future and they should be protected, kept healthy and safe. Every child's death is a tragic loss for the family, as well as society, particularly in those cases which could have been avoided. He expressed the hope that the work of the Review Panel could help prevent avoidable child deaths.
      
     The review covered the deaths of 166 children aged below 18 who died of natural (107) and non-natural (59) causes. The report revealed that most of the children who had died of non-natural causes lost their lives because of suicide (18), followed by accidents (12) and assault (nine). In light of repeated child deaths caused by co-sleeping with adults, inappropriate sleep arrangements, concealment of pregnancy and accidental falls, the Review Panel has continued the thematic review on these topics.
      
     Among the 18 child or youth suicide cases, 13 persons jumped from height to their death, with the youngest one aged 11. "Diagnosed/Suspected mental illness" stood out as the most frequent circumstance for death by suicide, followed by "Adaptation to Form One schooling", "Parent-Child Conflict" and "Relationship Breakup". As some of these children sent suicidal messages to their friends prior to their suicidal attempts, enhancing children/youths' skills in responding to death threats from their peers might be helpful in preventing their deaths. A total of 18 recommendations were made in the report for the prevention of child and youth suicide.
      
     Among the 12 fatal child accident cases, six children died of falling from height or from a bed/chair and the others died from fire (three), choking (two) and a traffic accident (one). Twelve recommendations for prevention of accidents were made which include reminding caregivers not to leave children alone or unattended at home, to install proper window grilles and ensure that they are properly locked, to place slip-resistant rubber mats on the floor, not to arrange for children to sleep alone on a high bed without a fence, to enhance training on child safety for foreign domestic helpers, and to seek immediate medical attention when children sustain head injuries. Recommendations on safe sleeping arrangements, strengthening public education on fire prevention and safety and proper use and installation of electrical home appliances were also made.
      
     A total of nine children lost their lives as a result of assault. Seven children were assaulted by their parents, one by a relative and one by a stranger. A total of 11 recommendations were made to prevent such tragedies, including enhancing carer support services for parents with children with disabilities, further enhancing public knowledge of depression, educating youths on the importance of self-protection when using social media and strengthening co-parenting support services for divorced/separated families.
      
     Mr Hui expressed his heartfelt thanks to all of the front-line workers, professionals and managerial personnel of service organisations, professional bodies and government departments who assisted and participated in the review.
      
     The Assistant Director (Family and Child Welfare) of the Social Welfare Department (SWD), Ms Pang Kit-ling, expressed her gratitude for the efforts of the Review Panel. She acknowledged the value of the child fatality review to facilitate the improvement and enhancement of the current child protection and child welfare service systems. She said that the SWD has accepted the recommendations of the Review Panel and will continue to enhance multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration in protecting children.
      
     To identify and support students in the face of difficulties, the Government has, starting from the 2018/19 school year, provided public sector primary schools with additional resources through a new funding mode to enable them to implement the "one school social worker for each school" policy as soon as possible according to school-based circumstances. To enhance teenagers' mental health and stress resilience, the Government will implement the measures of "two school social workers for each school" from the 2019/20 school year in some 460 secondary schools, together with a concomitant increase in supervisory support. In February this year, the Government also launched a three-year Pilot Scheme on Social Work Service for Pre-primary Institutions in phases in more than 700 pre-primary institutions for about 150 000 pre-school children and their families.

     The SWD will continue to collaborate with the Food and Health Bureau, the Education Bureau and the Hospital Authority to provide comprehensive support for students with mental health needs through the Student Mental Health Support Scheme. In 2019-20, the 24 Integrated Community Centres for Mental Wellness subvented by the SWD will extend support services to cover all secondary school students with mental health problems. The SWD will also deploy five mobile publicity vans in five regions across the territory to promote mental health. To enhance preventive and supportive services for vulnerable children and their families and prevent youth suicides, from 2019-20 onwards, the SWD will provide additional resources for 24 integrated family service centres and two integrated service centres operated by non-governmental organisations to recruit 26 more front-line social workers and 14 family aid workers.
      
     Furthermore, to strengthen the support for parents and relatives/carers of persons with disabilities (including those with special educational needs), the SWD will gradually set up an additional 13 Parents/Relatives Resource Centres from 2018-19 to 2019-20, making a total of 19 centres. In addition, to render support to divorced parents and their children, five specialised co-parenting support centres operated by non-governmental organisations will be set up across the territory in the third quarter this year to provide one-stop co-parenting support services for these families.
      
     Ms Pang stressed that the SWD will continue to work closely with relevant stakeholders in providing a comprehensive network of welfare services to strengthen family ties for people to prevent and handle personal and family problems.
      
     The full content of the Review Panel's fourth report is available on the SWD homepage (www.swd.gov.hk) for public viewing.