The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (October 10) announced that a sample of dry noodles with stir-fried egg and BBQ pork was found to contain an excessive amount of coagulase-positive staphylococci. The CFS is following up on the case.

     A CFS spokesman said, "Following up on a food complaint, the CFS took the above-mentioned sample from a restaurant in Wan Chai for testing. The result showed that the food sample contained coagulase-positive staphylococci at a level of 470 000 organisms per gram. Under the Microbiological Guidelines for Food, ready-to-eat food that contains coagulase-positive staphylococci at a level of more than 10 000 organisms per gram is considered unsatisfactory."

     The CFS has informed the restaurant concerned of the irregularity and instructed it to suspend the sale of the food concerned. The CFS has also provided health education on food safety and hygiene to the person-in-charge and staff of the restaurant, and requested it to review and improve the food production process and carry out thorough cleaning and disinfection.

     According to Section 54 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap 132), all food for sale in Hong Kong, locally produced or imported, should be fit for human consumption. An offender is subject to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months upon conviction.

     "Coagulase-positive staphylococci can produce enterotoxins that cause food poisoning. Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, often accompanied by diarrhoea," he added.

     The CFS will continue to follow up on the case and take appropriate action to safeguard food safety and public health.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

Total subscription amount: RMB 500 million
Total placement amount: RMB 500 million
Issue price: Same as the successful tenders of the RMB Sovereign Bonds of the same tenor

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

     Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:

     The Marine Department today (October 10) reminded masters, coxswains and persons-in-charge of vessels navigating in Hong Kong waters to proceed at a safe speed and exercise extreme caution because restricted visibility of less than 2 nautical miles has been reported.

     Appropriate sound signals shall be made when underway or at anchor. All vessels must comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea.

     Also, when radar is used without the benefit of adequate plotting facilities, the information obtained from the equipment is rather limited and should be construed accordingly.

     Visibility reports are broadcast by the Vessel Traffic Centre (VTC) on VHF channels 02, 12, 14, 63 and 67.

     In the event of an accident, a report shall be made immediately to the VTC at Tel: 2233 7801.

The following is issued on behalf of the Education Commission:
 
     The Chairman of the Education Commission, Mr Tim Lui, today (October 10) welcomed the education initiatives announced in the Chief Executive's 2018 Policy Address.

     Mr Lui said, "As the Chairman of the Education Commission, I share the view that talent, in particular our young talent, is the most important element in Hong Kong's continued development. I welcome the Government's commitment to devote substantial resources to education, pursue the education policy objective of nurturing quality future generations, promote reforms and introduce effective programmes for furthering quality education.

     "Following the in-depth reviews on eight key areas of education proposed in the 2017 Policy Address, I am very glad that the Government, having regard to the views of the task forces, has undertaken to implement some recommended measures as early as possible. These include, starting from the 2019/20 school year, providing additional resources each year to strengthen administrative support for public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme schools and their management committees; increasing the recurrent subsidy to the Federations of Parent-Teacher Associations and Parent-Teacher Associations of schools in order to foster parent education and home-school co-operation; and implementing the all-graduate teaching force policy in one go in public sector primary and secondary schools to raise teachers' professional status and to attract talent to the teaching force. In addition, the Government will introduce a series of measures to cater for the different needs of students. These include the improvement of various support measures under the integrated education policy and the provision of additional resources to enhance support for non-Chinese speaking students (including those with special education needs). The Government will also inject $800 million into the Gifted Education Fund to strengthen support for the development of gifted education and set up a $2.5 billion Student Activities Support Fund to enable students with financial needs to participate in out-of-classroom learning activities.
 
     "For post-secondary education, I am pleased to note that the Government will inject $20 billion into the Research Endowment Fund, propose to launch a new Research Matching Grant Scheme with a total commitment of $3 billion for three years and introduce three new regular fellowship schemes to strengthen research capacity and cultivate a research culture. Starting from the 2019/20 academic year, the Government will also extend the Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions/Sectors to subsidise about 2 000 students per cohort to undertake designated self-financing sub-degree programmes. To promote vocational and professional education and training, the Government will regularise the Pilot Training and Support Scheme to provide 1 200 training places per year, enabling more trainees to receive professional training and join industries with a keen demand for manpower under the 'Earn and Learn' model."
 
     Mr Lui added, "Government expenditure on education is the most meaningful investment in our future. The Education Commission will continue to contribute advice to the Education Bureau on various education policies to further enhance the quality of education in Hong Kong in order to nurture outstanding talent and foster the continual social and economic development of Hong Kong."

     An inter-departmental exercise simulating a hill fire and mountain rescue operation was held at the hillside of Ha Tsuen, Lau Fau Shan, New Territories, this morning (October 10).
 
     The participating departments and organisations were the Fire Services Department (FSD); the Hong Kong Police Force; the Government Flying Service; the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department; the Auxiliary Medical Service; the Civil Aid Service; the Home Affairs Department; the Social Welfare Department; the Hospital Authority; and the Lands Department. About 160 personnel from the participating departments and organisations took part in the exercise.
 
     The exercise aimed to enhance co-ordination, communication, command and control as well as logistical support capabilities among different departments and organisations during hill fire and mountain rescue operations. It also tested the effectiveness and co-operation of different emergency formations during fire-fighting and rescue operations.
 
     A spokesman for the FSD highlighted that the Chung Yeung Festival is approaching and many people will be engaged in grave sweeping or hiking activities. When Hong Kong was hit by Super Typhoon Mangkhut last month, many trees were uprooted. Coupling with dry weather in the recent days, some of these collapsed trees and branches still remain over the hillsides and would make a vegetation fire burn and spread more severely and rapidly. The spokesman urged the public not to leave any naked flames while taking part in the above-mentioned activities, and reminded them to take shelter in a safe place if they encounter a vegetation fire.