The following is issued on behalf of the Office of The Ombudsman:

     To reduce the risk of the spread of the novel coronavirus in the community, the Office of the Ombudsman will only provide basic and limited service.  The Reception counter will not open.  Such arrangement will be implemented until February 16. The Office will review the situation before then.

     Members of the public may contact the Office for enquiry or complaint through email, fax, hotline voice message or online form.

     A man who went missing in Tin Sum has been located.

     Lam Ying-man, aged 78, went missing after he left an elderly home on Ngau Pei Sha Street on February 6 night. His family made a report to Police on the same day.

     The man was located on Hang Shun Street in Ma On Shan in the small hours today (February 8). He sustained no injuries and no suspicious circumstances were detected.

     To align with the latest work arrangements announced by the Government to reduce the risk of the spread of the novel coronavirus in the community, Hongkong Post announced today (February 8) the provision of basic and limited public services to members of the public from February 10 to February 16 as follows:

– All post offices will open from 11am to 3pm from Monday to Friday and 9.30am to 1pm on Saturday for the provision of counter services (mobile post office services will be suspended); 
– Mail delivery and mail collection from posting boxes will be provided on alternate days; and 
– Posting and delivery of Speedpost items will be maintained from Monday to Saturday. 

     As the operating hours of post offices have been shortened, members of the public requiring counter services may expect a longer waiting time. Meanwhile, services for inbound and outbound mail may be subject to delay due to the reduction in the flight frequencies of some airlines. Members of the public are advised to visit the Hongkong Post website (www.hongkongpost.hk/en/about_us/whats_new/service_delay_suspension/index.html) for the latest updates. 

     For further enquiries, please call the Hongkong Post Enquiry Hotline at 2921 2222.

     A man who went missing in Kwai Chung has been located.

     Yung Tsz-kit, aged 36, went missing after he left his residence in Fu Yin House, Tai Wo Hau Estate on January 17 afternoon. His family made a report to Police on January 21.

     The man returned to his residence yesterday night (February 7). He sustained no injuries and no suspicious circumstances were detected.

     In light of the extension of special work arrangements for government departments until February 16 in order to reduce social contacts and the risk of the spread of the novel coronavirus in the community, the Water Supplies Department (WSD) announced today (February 8) that it will provide emergency services and other essential public services, as well as basic and limited-scale public services. The arrangements for affected public services of the WSD commencing on February 10 are as follows:
 

• The Customer Enquiries Centre (CEC) in Wan Chai will continue to be open with opening hours from 10am to 4pm from Monday to Friday. The centre will provide limited services for handling licensing matters and applications for urgent reconnection of water supply. For enquiries about account matters, customers should call the WSD 24-hour Customer Services Hotline (2824 5000). The CECs in Tai Kok Tsui, Sha Tin, Tai Po and Tuen Mun will remain closed;

• The Document Management Centre located on the 43rd floor of the Immigration Tower, Wan Chai will continue to receive submissions of documents, including water supply applications and plumbing proposals. Processing of these submissions will be prioritised according to their category, urgency and other factors;

• The 24-hour Customer Services Hotline (2824 5000) will handle emergency and general enquiries as normal. Enquiries on account matters will be diverted to voice mail and those of an urgent nature will be replied to as soon as possible;

• The H2OPE Centre (Water Resources Public Education Centre) will remain closed;

• The "Excursion with Water Save Dave" Visiting Programme for individuals and groups will continue to be cancelled; and

• Routine meter readings will continue to be suspended temporarily. The WSD will issue water bills with estimated water consumption to relevant customers with the billing cycles of their accounts ending during the period.

     The arrangements above will continue to be effective until further notice.