A correctional officer stopped a person in custody assaulting another person in custody in Shek Pik Prison yesterday (May 11).

     At 6.41pm, a 40-year-old male person in custody attacked another 25-year-old male person in custody with a ball pen outside a cell. An officer at the scene immediately stopped the assailant and called for reinforcement.

     During the incident, the victim sustained injuries to his head, shoulder and more. After examination and treatment by the institution Medical Officer, he was referred to a public hospital for further treatment. The assailant sustained injuries to his hand, foot and more. He did not need to be sent to a public hospital after examination and treatment provided by the institution Medical Officer.

     The case has been reported to the Police for investigation.

     Both of the persons in custody were sentenced to imprisonment for the offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug.

     Hongkong Post announced today (May 12) that the annual album issued by China Post will be put on sale at the General Post Office, Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office, Sha Tin Central Post Office, Tuen Mun Central Post Office and Tsuen Wan Post Office from May 14. Selected philatelic products issued by the postal administrations of the Mainland, Macao, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom will also be put on sale at all 38 philatelic offices on the same day. All these products will also be available at the Hongkong Post online shopping mall ShopThruPost (shopthrupost.hongkongpost.hk) starting from 8am on that day.
 
     Fans of the "Star Wars" and James Bond series will be thrilled with Royal Mail's stamp issues using these movies as a theme. For those who are fond of nature, the "Australian Fauna II" and "Dahlias" stamp products issued by Australia Post and Canada Post are not to be missed. In addition, the long-awaited annual "Chinese Zodiac Series" stamps issued by China Post and the Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau are also must-have items on the list of stamp lovers. 
 
     Details of the philatelic products are set out in the Appendix. For further information, please visit stamps.hongkongpost.hk or contact the Hongkong Post Philatelic Bureau hotline 2785 5711.

                      

     With regard to media enquiries about the first-day delivery of CuMask＋™, Hongkong Post today (May 11) gave the following response:
      
     Hongkong Post made a smooth start for the first-day delivery of CuMask＋™. Hongkong Post received about 120 000 items of CuMask＋™ from the Government yesterday. Delivery was arranged for around 97 per cent of them today while delivery for the remaining quantity could not be arranged due to problem with delivery address and arrangement for re-delivery will be made tomorrow. As mentioned in our press release dated May 10, door delivery would be arranged within around two working days upon receipt of the SMS message with item number by successful main registrants.
      
     Among the despatch order arranged for delivery today, about 70 per cent of which has been successfully delivered. For the remaining 30 per cent, collection from post office would be arranged as no one was present at the registered addresses to receive the delivery.
      
     On manpower front, Hongkong Post flexibly mobilised approximately 300 postmen, in addition to the 1 650 postmen responsible for normal mail delivery service, to support delivery offices requiring additional manpower as the distribution of items varies among districts. In general, each postman is required to deliver around 70 to 80 items of CuMask＋™ in average. Since the quantity of items distributed for delivery, based on the despatch order, varies among different beats, it may result in a variation of delivered quantity, be it either more or less than the above average, and hence it is not appropriate to generalise the situation.
      
     In respect of overtime work arrangements, the normal working hours for delivery postmen are 8am to 4pm.  If the work cannot be completed within their working hours, overtime work will be arranged where necessary. Taking into account of occupational safety and health of our staff, we usually limit the duration of overtime work to no more than 3.5 hours, as the total number of working hours of them may have amounted to 11.5 hours. If postmen still cannot complete the work of the day by working overtime of more than 3.5 hours, we will deploy internal resources by mobilising postmen from other sections to provide additional support and share the workload.  The criteria for overtime work required for the delivery of CuMask＋™ this time are in line with the established arrangements of the department.
      
     Hongkong Post will make thorough planning on manpower and resources based on the despatch orders of CuMask＋™ received from the Government, with a view to accomplishing the task smoothly. We greatly appreciate the enormous effort rendered by all our postmen and supporting staff on the back end in this task.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The spokesperson for the North District Hospital made the following announcement today (May 11) concerning the malfunction incidents of the negative pressure system in the isolation ward:
      
     In view of two malfunction incidents of the negative pressure exhaust system of the isolation ward in the recent few days, the Hospital has requested the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department to thoroughly check the system concerned to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
      
     During both incidents, all doors of the cubicles and rooms in the isolation ward had been kept closed. Two COVID-19 confirmed patients were being hospitalised in two different single rooms at the time and both had not left their rooms. The healthcare staff inside the ward had all worn appropriate personal protective equipment including N95 respirators and isolation gowns and no high-risk procedure was performed. There were no visitors either.  The infection risk has been assessed to be very low.
      
     The first incident happened at 10.05am last Friday (May 8).  An earth fault occurred at one of the exhaust fans of the negative pressure exhaust system and the system alarm was triggered. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, which is responsible for the system maintenance, immediately carried out emergency repair works and changed over the faulty exhaust fan to a stand-by exhaust fan in accordance with the contingency plan. The system resumed normal at 10.24am after repair. The replacement work of the defective exhaust fan was completed that night.
      
     The other incident happened at 2.15pm yesterday (May 10). The alarm system indicated that a damper of the negative pressure exhaust system in a single room was not functioning properly. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department performed emergency maintenance and the system resumed normal at 2.25pm.
      
     The concerned negative pressure exhaust system has been functioning properly since the annual overhaul conducted from August to September last year. The Hospital is highly concerned about the incidents and has reported them to the Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advance Incident Reporting System.

     As the rainstorm warning has been issued by the Hong Kong Observatory, the Labour Department (LD) reminds employers and contractors that they should adopt necessary work arrangements and take suitable safety measures to protect the safety of their employees when they are carrying out electrical work or handling electrical plant.

     A spokesman for the LD said today (May 11) that employers and contractors should avoid assigning employees to carry out electrical work (like electric arc welding work) or handle electrical plant at places affected by rainstorms, and should refer to the "Code of Practice in times of Typhoons and Rainstorms" and the "Guide on Safety at Work in times of Inclement Weather" issued by the LD.

     Even if electrical work is carried out or electrical plant is handled at places not affected by the rainstorm, suitable safety measures must still be adopted to prevent electric shock as the air would be more humid. Such measures include:

(i) Ensure that all live parts of an electrical installation are isolated from the power supply source and rendered dead, and the isolation from the power supply source must be maintained as long as electrical work is being carried out;

(ii) Before carrying out any electrical work or handling any electrical plant, cut off and lock out the power supply source, then test the circuit concerned to confirm it is dead and display suitable warning notices, and issue a work permit thereafter;

(iii) Ensure that protective devices (such as suitable and adequate fuses and circuit breakers) for the electrical installations or electrical plant have been installed and maintained in good working order, and portable electric tools must be double-insulated or properly earthed;

(iv) Provide suitable personal protective equipment such as insulating gloves and insulating mats for employees; and

(v) If live electrical work is unavoidable, a comprehensive risk assessment should be conducted by a competent person and the appropriate safety precautions should be taken to remove or properly control the electrical hazards involved before such work can proceed.

     In addition, employees should co-operate with the employer or contractor to follow the safety instructions and use the safety equipment provided.

     The LD has published guidebooks and leaflets on electrical work safety. These safety publications are available free from divisional offices of the department or can be downloaded from its website (www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/content2_8.htm).

     Should there be any questions about occupational safety and health matters, please contact the Occupational Safety Officer of the LD at 2559 2297.