The spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB) said today (July 27) that there are discussions in the community questioning some of the Returning Officers' requests for additional information from persons nominated for the Legislative Council General Election to verify their eligibility to be nominated as candidates in the Election.     
 
     With respect to this situation, the CMAB reiterated that in accordance with the existing electoral legislation, the Returning Officers have the power to determine whether individual candidates satisfy the relevant requirements on candidacy under the law.  Prior to confirming the eligibility of the candidates, the Returning Officers may seek advice from relevant bureaux and departments, including the Department of Justice and the CMAB, etc. in light of the circumstances, and request the candidate concerned to provide additional information that he/she considers appropriate according to Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (Legislative Council) Regulation so as to satisfy him/her that the person is eligible to be nominated or that nomination is valid.    
 
     Meanwhile, the CMAB noticed certain individuals in the community have been disseminating humiliating remarks on social media platforms against Returning Officers that have constituted personal attacks, and committed wanton acts of doxxing. The CMAB severely condemned these behaviours.
 
    "The Returning Officers should not be attacked by any unreasonable and threatening remarks when executing their statutory duties in accordance with the laws.  We will refer these malicious acts to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and Police for follow-up, including proactively liaising with operators of doxxing-related platforms to request the removal of relevant web links and issuance of warnings on the platforms to netizens that doxxing may violate the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance," the spokesman said.
 
     The spokesman reiterated that the CMAB will continue to fully support the Returning Officers to execute their duties in accordance with the laws.

     A total of 20 nomination forms for the 2020 Legislative Council General Election were received today (July 27) by the Returning Officers for the five geographical constituencies and the 29 functional constituencies.
 
     This brings to 101 the total number of nomination forms received since the start of the nomination period on July 18. The nomination period will continue until July 31.
 
     A spokesman for the Registration and Electoral Office advised nominees to submit their nomination forms as early as possible to allow ample time to correct mistakes, if any, in the nomination forms before the deadline.
 
     The number of nomination forms received for each geographical constituency is as follows:
 

 
The number of nomination forms received for each functional constituency is as follows:
 

 
     Particulars of the nominees will be available on the election website (www.elections.gov.hk/legco2020/eng/nominat.html).

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     As at noon today (July 27), 12 COVID-19 confirmed patients (case numbers: 1254, 1324, 1337, 1448, 1488, 1521, 1545, 1581, 1749, 1898, 2020 and 2059) were discharged from hospital in the past 24 hours. Due to duplicated calculation of number of patients discharged from public hospitals and transferred to Lei Yue Mun community isolation facility by the system, after recalculating the relevant data, so far a total of 1 486 patients with confirmed or probable infection have been discharged.

     At present, there are 648 negative pressure rooms in public hospitals with 1 207 negative pressure beds activated. A total of 1 014 confirmed patients are currently hospitalised in 15 public hospitals and community isolation facility, among which 38 patients are in critical condition (case numbers: 595, 1346, 1401, 1424, 1470, 1483, 1485, 1491, 1497, 1498, 1573, 1612, 1644, 1650, 1679, 1718, 1767, 1777, 1779, 1795, 1805, 1806, 1835, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1955, 1956, 2048, 2075, 2079, 2086, 2161, 2208, 2315, 2362, 2484 and 2522), 26 are in serious condition (case numbers: 1315, 1439, 1456, 1468, 1556, 1680, 1687, 1722, 1730, 1786, 1843, 1924, 1998, 2147, 2172, 2269, 2282, 2313, 2334, 2358, 2412, 2437, 2440, 2452, 2494 and 2495) and the remaining 950 patients are in stable condition.
 
     Apart from the two patient cases announced by Queen Elizabeth Hospital earlier today, an 88-year-old male patient (case number: 1487) and a 95-year-old female patient (case number: 1901) passed away at Queen Mary Hospital this morning and at United Christian Hospital this afternoon respectively. So far, 22 COVID-19 patients have passed away in public hospitals.

     The HA will maintain close contact with the Centre for Health Protection to monitor the latest developments and to inform the public and healthcare workers on the latest information in a timely manner.

     â€‹The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said today (July 27) that three persons were prosecuted for failing to wear a mask in markets, contravening the Prevention and Control of Disease (Wearing of Mask) Regulation (Cap.599I) (Regulation). This was the first time the FEHD instituted prosecutions against persons for contravening the requirement under the Regulation. 

     A spokesman for the FEHD said that since the implementation of the Regulation, the FEHD has stepped up inspection at its markets to ensure compliance with the requirements under the Regulation that all persons have to wear a mask in indoor public places. During inspections today, FEHD officers found that two operators in Pei Ho Street Market and To Kwa Wan Market respectively, and a man who delivered goods to Shui Wo Street Market had failed to wear a mask in the markets. After verbal warnings were ignored, the three persons were prosecuted.

     Under the Regulation, any person who does not wear a mask in accordance with the requirement commits an offence and the maximum penalty is a fine of $5,000 or a fixed penalty of $2,000.

     The spokesman said, "To protect the health and safety of market tenants and the public, the FEHD urges the public to comply with the requirement under the Regulation to wear a mask in markets. The FEHD will continue to step up inspections and enforcement actions to ensure compliance with the requirement."

     â€‹To align with the further stepping up of the social distancing measures announced by the Government today, after considering the need to maintain social distancing as much as possible and to minimise the risk of the spread of COVID-19 in the community, the Transport Department (TD) announced today (July 27) that the TD's driving test centres and written test centre will suspend services from July 29. All driving tests services (including road tests, written test (Part A) and taxi written test) originally scheduled for July 29 and thereafter will be suspended until further notice. The TD will notify the affected candidates individually of the rescheduled test date after resumption of the driving test services.

     In addition, the counter services of the TD's Driving Test Appointment Office at Cheung Sha Wan, the online booking service for driving test appointments and telephone booking service for Repeater Early Driving Test will be suspended from July 29 until further notice. The TD's driving test appointment services (including handling of applications for driving test and test postponement) will start to be suspended on the same date. For candidates who have reserved repeater early test appointment through online or telephone booking service, please visit the specified licensing office to pay for the test form by the payment due date.  

     The TD will continue to closely monitor the development of the pandemic and the social distancing measures implemented by the Government, and resume or adjust driving test services in a timely manner. For enquiries about driving test appointments, please contact the Driving Test Appointment Office at 2771 7723 from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Friday.