The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (October 4) closely monitoring 32 additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), including 10 deaths, reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) between June 1 and September 16, 2018, and again urged the public to pay special attention to safety during travel, taking due consideration of the health risks in the places they visit.
 
     According to the WHO, among the 28 male and four female patients aged 29 to 84, 23 of them had underlying illnesses, 12 had exposure to camels, and one was health care worker. Among these 32 cases, 12 cases involved in one hospital cluster and four household clusters.

     According to the latest information, 2 254 cases have been reported to the WHO (with 800 deaths), including 2 035 in 10 Middle East countries comprising 1 876 in the KSA, 87 in the United Arab Emirates, 28 in Jordan, 19 in Qatar, 11 in Oman, six in Iran, four in Kuwait, two in Lebanon, and one each in Yemen and Bahrain.

     "We will maintain close communication with the WHO and relevant health authorities," a spokesman for the CHP said.

     "Travellers to the Middle East should avoid going to farms, barns or markets with camels; avoid contact with sick persons and animals, especially camels, birds or poultry; and avoid unnecessary visits to healthcare facilities. We strongly advise travel agents organising tours to the Middle East to abstain from arranging camel rides and activities involving direct contact with camels, which are known risk factors for acquiring MERS Coronavirus," the spokesman said.

     Travellers to affected areas should maintain vigilance, adopt appropriate health precautions and take heed of personal, food and environmental hygiene. The public may visit the MERS page of the CHP and its Travel Health Service, MERS statistics in affected areas, the CHP's Facebook Page and YouTube Channel, and the WHO's latest news for more information and health advice. Tour leaders and tour guides operating overseas tours are advised to refer to the CHP's health advice on MERS.

     The Home Affairs Department appeals to registered electors of the Wong Ka Wai and Lung Tseng Tau Indigenous Inhabitant Representative Election to exercise their right to vote in the Rural By-election to be held this Sunday (October 7).

     Seven Rural Representative vacancies are open in the by-election and seven valid nominations were received during the nomination period. There are two candidates running for an Indigenous Inhabitant Representative post of Wong Ka Wai and Lung Tseng Tau of the Tung Chung Rural Committee. Polling will be held for the village.

     Five candidates were returned uncontested to be the Indigenous Inhabitant Representatives of Tam Shui Hang, Ho Chung, Fan Tin San Yi Cho and Tai Wai and the Resident Representative of Kwun Yam Shan and Kong Pui.
      
     No valid nomination was received for the Resident Representative vacancy of Mok Ka.

     The list of valid nominations is as follows:
 

 
     Polling will be held from noon to 7pm on October 7. Electors are required to bring the original of their identity documents to the designated polling station as specified in the polling notice. 

     There will be arrangements to enable remanded persons and detainees who are registered electors of the village to cast their votes in the by-election. 

     Arrangements will be made for electors who are remanded or detained by law enforcement agencies (other than the Correctional Services Department) to cast their votes at the dedicated polling station located on G/F, Mei Tin Community Hall, 9 Mei Mun Lane, Tai Wai, Sha Tin, New Territories. The polling hours are from noon to 7pm.

     If necessary, reserved dedicated polling stations will also be set up in the 21 penal institutions for electors under the custody of the Correctional Services Department to cast their votes from 1pm to 4pm. 

     For further information, please visit the Rural Representative Election website, www.had.gov.hk/rre, or call 2152 1521.

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

     The Legislative Council Secretariat (the Secretariat) released an upgraded version (version 4.0) of the mobile application for the Legislative Council (LegCo App) today (October 4).

     The Secretariat launched the LegCo App to facilitate users to access the latest LegCo information of various types on mobile devices.  In response to feedback from users, the LegCo App brings two new functions, namely "Business of the Week" and "What's New", and enhances the functions for "Webcast", "Calendar" as well as "Members' Contact Directory" in the current upgrade to version 4.0.

     Descriptions of each new feature are as below:

Business of the Week
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     Users are able to obtain the highlighted information about the meetings of LegCo and its committees to be held each week through the new function of "Business of the Week" on the home page of the LegCo App.

What's New
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     The latest press releases and announcements are moved to "What's New" on the home page of the LegCo App to further facilitate users to stay up-to-date with Council business.

Webcast
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     Apart from the floor version of the meetings of LegCo and its committees as well as official media briefings, the upgraded version of the LegCo App allows users to listen to or watch the live webcast of the simultaneous interpretation (SI) versions, including Cantonese, English and Putonghua, when the SI services are available at the meetings.  Users can also choose multiple languages at the playback of the recordings.  Meanwhile, the upgraded version introduces new function of instant replay and offers better video resolution.

Calendar
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     The upgraded Calendar allows users to view the schedule of LegCo meetings and activities for more months.

Members' Contact Directory
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     Users are able to download the PDF version of the Members' Contact Directory to access the contact information of all Members.

     Members of the public may now download the upgraded LegCo App (version 4.0) or perform upgrade for free from Apple App Store or Google Play, as appropriate, for their mobile devices to keep themselves abreast of LegCo business.  The LegCo App is also available for download from the LegCo Website at www.legco.gov.hk/english/mobile-app.html.  It supports devices running on Apple iOS (version 8.0 or above) and Android (version 4.1 or above).

     A man who went missing in Mong Kok was located.
      
     Yeung Kam-fai, aged 53, went missing after he left his residence at Pok Man Street on September 29 afternoon. His family made a report to Police on the same day.
      
     The man was located in Mong Kok on October 2 night. He sustained no injuries and no suspicious circumstances were detected.

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

     The fire danger situation today (October 4) 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.