Police today (February 27) classified a suicide and body found case in Wong Tai Sin as pending manslaughter and suicide, in which a 51-year-old man and his 80-year-old mother died.

     About 5.25am today, Police received a report that a fire broke out and dense smoke emitted from a unit in Mui Yuen House, Chuk Yuen North Estate, Wong Tai Sin. Police officers sped to the scene. After firemen forcibly opened the door and put out the fire, the 80-year-old woman was found collapsed inside the living room while the 51-year-old man was found collapsed inside a bedroom. A basin with burnt charcoal was found next to him. The man was certified dead at scene. The woman was sent to Caritas Medical Centre in unconscious state and later certified dead at 6.14am.

     Initial investigation revealed that the man had suspectedly burned charcoal in an attempt to commit suicide and indirectly led to the death of his mother in the same unit.

     Post-mortem examinations will be conducted later to ascertain the cause of their deaths.

     Active investigation by the District Investigation Team of Wong Tai Sin is underway.     

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The spokesperson for New Territories West Cluster (NTWC) made the following announcement today (February 27) regarding an incident of using expired activator foam for endoscope disinfection:
 
     On February 25, the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department of Tuen Mun Hospital received a report by staff on an incident in which a bottle of expired activator foam was used for endoscope disinfection. NTWC immediately inspected all of the activator foam in the three A&E Departments and found that the same batch of expired foam was used for nasopharyngoscopy endoscope disinfection in both Tuen Mun Hospital and Pok Oi Hospital.
 
     Nasopharyngoscopy is a procedure used to assess airway obstruction in patients. The disinfection of an endoscope involves three steps and the activator foam is used in the second step. The shelf life of the foam is two years and the best-used-by date of the batch concerned was September 30, 2019.
 
     According to the records, 20 patients have undergone nasopharyngoscopy with endoscopes using the affected disinfectant since October 1, 2019.
 
     According to the expert opinion of a microbiologist, the risk of transmitting infection is low. While three patients had succumbed due to their underlying illnesses, the hospitals will contact the remaining 17 patients to arrange health assessment as a precautionary measure.
 
     NTWC apologises to all patients affected and the public, and is very concerned about the incident. A stock-taking exercise has been conducted at the A&E Departments to ensure products in use are within their shelf life. The hospitals have also reminded staff to stay vigilant on medical product safety in order to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents.
 
     NTWC has reported the incident to the Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advance Incident Reporting System.

     The Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, today (February 27) announced the Government's 2020-21 Land Sale Programme.

     "The 2020-21 Land Sale Programme comprises 15 residential sites capable of providing about 7 530 flats, and six commercial sites which can provide about 833 700 square metres of gross floor area," Mr Wong said.

     Among the 15 residential sites included in the 2020-21 Land Sale Programme, five are rolled over from the 2019-20 Land Sale Programme, capable of providing about 2 230 flats in total, while the remaining 10 sites have a capacity to provide about 5 300 flats.

     Apart from the 15 sites for sale, railway property development projects will continue to contribute to the private housing land supply in 2020-21. The property development projects of the MTR Corporation Limited at Wong Chuk Hang Station and LOHAS Park are estimated to provide a total of 4 050 flats.

     "Taking also into consideration the forecasted land supply from private development/redevelopment projects, the total potential private housing land supply in 2020-21 is estimated to have a capacity to produce about 15 730 flats," Mr Wong said.

     Pursuant to the announcement by the Government in December 2019, the housing supply target for the coming 10 years is 430 000 units and the public/private housing split is 70:30. Correspondingly, the 2020-21 target for the private housing land supply from various sources is 12 900 flats.

     Mr Wong noted that the actual supply of private housing land for 2020-21 will depend on a number of factors, including market conditions, the readiness for sale of government sites upon timely completion of relevant procedures/proceedings, the implementation progress of railway property developments, and the progress of developers' private development/redevelopment projects including their initiative to conclude lease modification/land exchange.

     Regarding the private housing land supply in 2019-20, Mr Wong said that a total of nine residential sites would have been sold or put up for sale by the end of the financial year. These sites have a total capacity to produce about 6 280 flats. The aggregate private housing land supply in 2019-20 from different sources, including the sale of government sites, railway property development projects, the Urban Renewal Authority’s project and private development/redevelopment projects, is estimated to have a capacity to produce about 12 190 flats so far.

     "Six commercial sites are also included in the 2020-21 Land Sale Programme, capable of providing about 833 700 square metres of gross floor area. The Government will continue to provide a steady commercial land supply to sustain Hong Kong's economic development and competitiveness, regardless of the shorter term market fluctuations," Mr Wong said.

     For the first quarter of 2020-21, i.e. April to June 2020, the Government will tender two residential sites in Tai Po and Ap Lei Chau which are capable of providing about 1 370 flats.

     Apart from residential sites, the Government will put up for sale in the first quarter of 2020-21 one industrial site in Sha Tin of approximately 87 500 sq m of gross floor area.

     Mr Wong said that the Government is firmly committed to maintaining a steady and sustained land supply through a multi-pronged approach to meet the housing and socio-economic development needs of the community.

     "The Government will follow the established practice to announce in advance the quarterly land sale programme to provide transparency and certainty to the market. We may put up additional sites for sale in the course of the quarter depending on the situation in order to flexibly respond to changing market conditions," he added.

     The 2020-21 Land Sale Programme can be found on the Lands Department's website (www.landsd.gov.hk).

    

     A spokesman for the Chief Executive's Office today (February 27) appealed to members of the public to stay alert to fraudulent emails purported to be issued by the Chief Executive's Office.
 
     The spokesman said that enquiries were received today from some members of the public who received an email invitation to an activity purported to be sent by the Chief Executive's Office. The emails were not sent from a government email account and have nothing to do with the Chief Executive's Office. The emails have been reported to the Police for follow-up action.

     In response to media enquiries on the provision of residential care places for the elderly under the 2020-21 Estimates, a Labour and Welfare Bureau spokesman today (February 27) said that the Government would increase 1 797 additional subsidised places in 2020-21, including 181 provided by contract homes and subsidised homes, as well as 1 616 EA1 places under the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme. The Government has been implementing 51 development projects from 2019-20 to set up new contract homes and day care centres/units for the elderly, which are expected to provide some 7 100 subsidised and non-subsidised residential care places for the elderly gradually in the short to medium term.