Hongkong Post today (October 21) announced the latest dates of posting for this year's Christmas air mail. The dates are worked out based on the requirements of destination postal administrations. These dates and services are subject to availability of flight services and may be altered on short notice. To avoid delays, members of the public are advised to post earlier than the dates shown. As postal services to certain destinations are suspended, members of the public may visit the website of Hongkong Post (www.hongkongpost.hk/en/about_us/whats_new/index.html) on the service availability for overseas destinations before posting.
 

     Air letter, packet and parcel services to some major destinations including Brazil, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru and Russia are currently suspended.

     Enquiries on the subject can be directed to the Hongkong Post general enquiry hotline at 2921 2222.

*Service is currently under suspension
#Only e-Express service is avaliable
 

     â€‹Hong Kong Customs has mounted an enforcement operation codenamed "Thunder V" in the past three weeks to combat illicit cigarette telephone-ordering activities in public rental housing (PRH). A total of about 1.4 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $3.8 million and a duty potential of about $2.6 million were seized across the territory. Sixty-five persons were arrested.

     During the operation, Customs officers detected 61 relevant cases in different districts, including Chai Wan, Sai Wan, Kwun Tong, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon City, Tai Kok Tsui, Sham Shui Po, Tseung Kwan O, Kwai Chung, Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Sheung Shui, Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai, Tuen Mun and Tung Chung, resulting in the above-mentioned seizures of suspected illicit cigarettes. In those cases, Customs officers raided four suspected illicit cigarette storage centres and detained five vehicles suspected to be used for illicit cigarette distribution.

     In the above-mentioned cases, 51 men and 14 women, aged between 15 and 86, were arrested, including both illicit cigarette sellers and buyers. All the cases have been duly followed up.

     Customs has all along been enhancing enforcement against illicit cigarette activities on all fronts, including cross-boundary smuggling, storage and distribution as well as peddling, through intelligence analysis. If PRH units are found to be involved in illicit cigarette activities, Customs will notify the Housing Department for follow-up action after the conclusion of court proceedings.

     Customs reminds members of the public that selling and buying of illicit cigarettes are illegal. Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, anyone involved in dealing with, possession of, selling or buying illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

    

     The Department of Health (DH) today (October 21) endorsed a licensed drug wholesaler, Sanofi Hong Kong Limited, to recall five batches of the following four products from the market as a precautionary measure due to the presence of an impurity in the products.
 

     The DH today received notification from Sanofi of the finding by the overseas manufacturers that the active pharmaceutical ingredient of the above batches of products contains a higher than accepted level of azido impurity. As a precautionary measure, Sanofi is voluntarily recalling the above batches of the products from the market.

     Azido impurity is considered a mutagen that can cause a change in the DNA of a cell and may increase the risk of cancer, but the risk of causing cancer in humans is unknown. Overseas drug regulatory authorities have been reviewing the safety impact of azido impurity found in medicinal products. The DH will closely monitor the development of the issue and any safety updates regarding the drug issued by overseas drug regulatory authorities for consideration of any necessary action.

     The above products are prescription medicines used to lower blood pressure. According to Sanofi, the products have been imported to Hong Kong and supplied to Hospital Authority hospitals, clinics of the DH, private hospitals, private doctors and community pharmacies as well as re-exported to Macao.

     Sanofi has set up a hotline (2506 8333) to handle related enquiries.

     "So far, the DH has not received any adverse reaction reports in connection with the products. The DH will closely monitor the recall," a spokesman for the DH said.

     â€‹"Patients who are taking the above products should not stop taking them, but should seek advice from their healthcare professionals as soon as possible for appropriate arrangements," the spokesman added.

        

     A 50-year-old woman was fined $5,000 by the Fanling Magistrates' Courts today (October 21) for violating the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C).

     The woman was earlier issued a compulsory quarantine order stating that she must conduct quarantine at home for 14 days. Before the expiry of the quarantine order, she left the place of quarantine on March 26, 2021, without reasonable excuse nor permission given by an authorised officer. She was charged with contravening sections 8(1) and 8(5) of the Regulation and was fined $5,000 by the Fanling Magistrates' Courts today.
 
     Breaching a compulsory quarantine order is a criminal offence and offenders are subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months. A spokesman for the Department of Health said the sentence sends a clear message to the community that breaching a quarantine order is a criminal offence that the Government will not tolerate, and solemnly reminded the public to comply with the regulations. As of today, a total of 195 persons have been convicted by the courts for breaching quarantine orders and have received sentences including immediate imprisonment for up to 14 weeks or a fine of up to $15,000. The spokesman reiterated that resolute actions will be taken against anyone who has breached the relevant regulations.

     The overall Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) caseload in September showed a drop of 1 128 cases, representing a decrease of 0.5 per cent compared with that of August, according to the latest CSSA caseload statistics released by the Social Welfare Department today (October 21).
             
     The total CSSA caseload at the end of September stood at 219 130 (see attached table), with a total of 310 318 recipients.
             
     Analysed by case nature, single parent cases registered a month-to-month decrease of 1.2 per cent to 24 336 cases. Low-earnings cases showed a drop of 1.1 per cent to 2 272 cases. Old age cases were down by 0.4 per cent to 125 252 cases. Ill-health cases decreased by 0.2 per cent to 26 703 cases. Permanent disability cases decreased by 0.1 per cent to 17 510 cases.
             
     Unemployment cases decreased by 0.7 per cent to 19 110 cases. The figure represented an increase of about 51.8 per cent in comparison with that of January 2020 when Hong Kong just started to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The average number of applications for unemployment cases in July to September 2021 was 528 per month, representing a reduction of 2.9 per cent from that in June to August.