Author Archives: hksar gov

Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:      The Hong Kong Observatory has issued the Very Hot Weather Warning.      To prevent heat stroke, avoid pro… read more

     Three charities have been issued Public Subscription Permits to hold flag sales on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and in the New Territories separately from 7am to 12.30pm today (August 29). The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has been informed by two of the charities that the regional flag-selling activities scheduled to be held by them have been cancelled, a spokesman for the SWD said.
 
     Information on the regional flag-selling activity today is as follows:
 

Region	Name of organisation and contact information	Colour of collection bag	Colour of flag
Hong Kong Island	World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong Contact Person: Mr Chan Contact Number: 2161 9682	Blue	White

 
     Contact information for the organisations that have cancelled regional flag-selling activities is as follows:
 

Region	Name of organisation	Contact person	Contact number
Kowloon	Open Door Ministries Limited	Ms Yau	2379 9158
New Territories	Tseung Kwan O Sion Church Limited	Ms Leung	2706 5128

 
     Details of the charitable fund-raising activities, including any updated information, covered by the issued Public Subscription Permits have been published on the GovHK website (www.gov.hk/en/theme/fundraising/search). Permits for flag days containing information on contact methods of the flag-selling organisations and the approved flag-selling activities have also been uploaded to the SWD’s website (www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_controlofc/sub_flagdays) for reference. For enquiries, please call the SWD’s hotline at 2343 2255, or the designated hotline of the 1823 Call Centre at 3142 2678.
 
     In the case of suspected fraudulent flag day activities, people should not make any donation and should immediately report the matter to the Police, the spokesman added. read more

     â€‹Hong Kong Customs yesterday (August 27) seized a batch of suspected smuggled goods including electronic goods, food stuff and disinfection products with an estimated market value of about $1.8 million at Man Kam To Control Point. 

     Customs officers intercepted an incoming truck at Man Kam To Control Point for inspection yesterday evening and found the batch of suspected smuggled goods inside the cargo compartment. The 46-year-old male driver was arrested and the truck was detained. 

     Investigation is ongoing. 

     Customs will continue to take stringent enforcement against cross-boundary smuggling activities through risk assessment and intelligence analysis.

     Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years. 

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

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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) spokesperson today (August 28) made the following announcement on the disruption of the Clinical Management System (CMS) in public hospitals:

     At about 7pm today, HA’s CMS was disrupted due to network problem, affecting the access of healthcare staff to save or retrieve patients’ medical records. During this period, clinical departments switched its operation to contingency mode, including manual input of medical records and taking patients’ medical history verbally.

     Upon emergency repair by department concerned, all systems resumed normal operation at about 8.20pm.

     The HA will conduct an in-depth investigation into the incident. The HA expressed apology to the public for the inconvenience caused during the system disruption. read more

     To cut the transmission chain of COVID-19 in the community, the Government will launch the Universal Community Testing Programme (UCTP) on September 1 to provide a one-off free testing service for the public. Members of the public can make online appointments at the dedicated website of the UCTP (www.communitytest.gov.hk) starting from tomorrow (August 29).

     “Members of the public are required to provide their name, Hong Kong Identity (HKID) card number and contact telephone numbers when making online appointments. They can then choose the community testing centre, testing date and time slot. The community testing centres will open from 8am to 8pm with a one-hour break for cleaning and disinfection, with each time slot lasting for 30 minutes. A confirmation notification will be sent to participants by SMS after making appointments,” said a Government spokesman.   

     “Except for children under six years old and people not suitable for the test, all holders of valid HKID cards or birth certificates who are asymptomatic can participate in the programme,” the spokesman added.
      
     “The Government has set up 141 community testing centres in all districts across the territory. To ensure the health and safety of the public participating in the programme and personnel manning the testing centres, all the venues selected by the Government for use as community testing centres have been assessed and considered suitable by the DH and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. Various infection control measures will also be put in place at the centres in accordance with the recommendations of the DH. There will also be an adequate supply of protective equipment for personnel manning the testing centres, including suitable respirators (or equivalent), eye protection, gowns, gloves, etc.”

     The spokesman said that the elderly or people who need special assistance can visit any post office during office hours to seek assistance in making appointments online. People may also seek help from the estate management offices of public housing estates they reside. 

     “Upon arrival at testing centres according to the scheduled appointments, members of the public should show their identity cards or birth certificates for verification. Specimens will then be collected by staff with medical and healthcare training through combined nasal and throat swabs from participants for laboratory testing. People whose test results are negative will be informed by SMS through their mobile phones. If a test result is positive, the DH will take follow-up action immediately. More than 6 000 personnel from the medical and healthcare sectors have enrolled so far to participate in the UCTP. The Government expressed gratitude to the medical and healthcare sectors for their support to the programme.

     “The UCTP aims at identifying as early as possible asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in the community and achieving the target of early identification, early isolation and early treatment. The programme is scheduled to run for seven days. Subject to the progress, it may be extended for no more than seven days.”

     The spokesman stressed that the UCTP will only do testing for COVID-19. All testing will be conducted in Hong Kong. Specimens will not be transported outside Hong Kong and they will be destroyed after testing.

     “The Government will handle the personal data of members of the public very carefully. No personal particulars will be indicated on the sampling bottles of the programme. The testing agencies will know only the serial numbers but not the identities of the specimen owners. Moreover, no personal information (including specimens and test results) will be transported outside Hong Kong. The workflow also does not involve the provision of any personal data to any organisations or persons outside Hong Kong. Information of individual cases with positive results will be passed to the DH and the Hospital Authority for follow-up. Personal Information and test results of other cases will be deleted after completion of the programme. Specimens will also be destroyed after completion of the programme.”

     Laboratory testing and surveillance are important elements in the Government’s anti-epidemic work. The spokesman appealed to members of the public to fight the virus together and join the UCTP to protect oneself and others, with a view to winning the battle against the virus as soon as possible.

     For details of the UCTP, please visit the website of UCTP at www.communitytest.gov.hk .

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