The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (February 1) released the latest grading of water quality for four gazetted beaches which are open all year round for swimming. 

     Four beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1). 

Grade 1 beaches are:

Clear Water Bay Second Beach
Golden Beach
Repulse Bay Beach
Silverstrand Beach

     Compared with the grading released last week, there was no change in the grading for these beaches.

     Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.

     While the ratings represent the general water quality at the beaches, an EPD spokesman reminded members of the public that water quality could be temporarily affected during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after a storm or heavy rainfall.

     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the department's website on Beach Water Quality (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666.

     The Tourism Commission, in co-operation with relevant government departments, major tourist attractions, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC), has drawn up measures to cope with the tourist flow between Hong Kong and the Mainland during the Chinese New Year Golden Week (February 4 to 10), a Government spokesman said today (February 1).

     Relevant government departments will strengthen manpower at all control points and co-ordinate transport and cross-boundary services during the Chinese New Year Golden Week.

     The Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre set up by the Immigration Department, the Police, the Customs and Excise Department (Customs) and other relevant departments will be activated during the period to monitor the situation at each land control point, as well as to maintain close liaison with Mainland counterparts and take contingency actions where necessary.

     The Tourism Commission will maintain effective communication with the tourism authorities in Guangdong and Shenzhen through the mechanism of information exchange and emergency handling for Golden Weeks.

     "It is expected that the passenger traffic from February 4 to 10 will be heavier than usual. To avoid congestion during the morning and evening peak hours at various boundary control points, we urge Mainland visitors and local residents to cross the boundary during less busy hours," the spokesman said.

     To assist visitors in planning their trips, the Immigration Department will upload the daily arrival figures of all control points to its website (www.immd.gov.hk) from February 5 to 11. Such information will also be hyperlinked to the HKTB's website (www.discoverhongkong.com) for visitors' reference. In addition, visitors may check the estimated waiting time at all land boundary control points via the Immigration Mobile Application, which can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple App Store (supports iOS version 9.0 or above) and Google Play (supports Android version 5.0 or above).

     Under the co-ordination of the Tourism Commission, major tourist attractions will extend their opening hours and put in place crowd control measures and contingency arrangements during the Chinese New Year Golden Week. The Tourism Commission, in collaboration with the TIC, will also appeal to travel agents, shops and restaurants serving Mainland inbound tour groups to implement appropriate measures for the orderly management of tourist and coach flows.

     As regards consumer education, the Tourism Commission and the HKTB have deployed staff to distribute to Mainland visitors souvenirs or leaflets printed with education messages at various control points and popular tourist destinations respectively, so as to enhance their awareness of protecting their own rights. An advisory note on consumer rights for Mainland inbound tour group visitors has also been uploaded to the website of the Tourism Commission for Mainland visitors' reference.

     To protect inbound tour group visitors' rights, the TIC will continue to enforce a series of regulatory measures on the trade's arrangements for receiving Mainland inbound tour groups, which include requiring Hong Kong travel agents to register with the TIC the itineraries of the Mainland inbound tour groups that they receive together with proof of accommodation within a specified period. During the Chinese New Year Golden Week, the TIC will deploy additional manpower for conducting inspections in districts where relatively more registered shops are located and offer immediate assistance to visitors and tourist guides. In addition, Customs and the Police will step up inspection of retail shops serving Mainland inbound tour groups so as to combat unfair trade practices such as coerced shopping.

     The Tourism Commission has provided the hotlines of the relevant local organisations to Mainland inbound group visitors via the tourism authorities in Guangdong and Shenzhen. During the Chinese New Year Golden Week, in case of any emergency, Mainland inbound tour group visitors, tour escorts accompanying the tour groups and local tourist guides can seek assistance from the TIC by calling its service hotline 2807 0707 (operating from 9am to midnight). For enquiries or complaints, visitors can call the HKTB's hotline 2508 1234 (operating from 9am to 6pm) or the Consumer Council's hotline 2929 2222 (operating from 9am to 5.30pm).

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

      The Hospital Authority (HA) today (February 1) announced that in view of the increased demand during the winter surge in public hospitals, the general out-patient clinic (GOPC) services will be enhanced around the Chinese New Year. The overall quota will increase by about 3 900 during the week of the Chinese New Year and the week after (February 4 to 17), while one more GOPC will provide public holiday clinic service on February 7, so that 14 clinics in total (see table below) will remain open to meet the service needs of the public during the long holidays and alleviate the service pressure of Accident and Emergency (A&E) Departments.
 
     The Chairman of the HA's Coordinating Committee (A&E), Dr Li Kai-ming, said A&E Departments of public hospitals will also remain open as usual to serve the public with urgent medical needs during the Chinese New Year holidays. He said he also expected that attendance in A&E Departments will gradually increase.
 
     "The extended three-day Chinese New Year holidays will start next Tuesday. Our previous experience tells us that the service demand will increase rapidly in the latter part of the holiday and also on the first working day following the extended holiday. The latest A&E waiting time information is available on the HA website and the 'HA Touch' mobile app. As an alternative, non-urgent patients are advised to consider seeking consultation at general out-patient clinics or primary clinics of private doctors," Dr Li said.
 
     Dr Li also took the opportunity to remind people travelling outside Hong Kong during the holidays to avoid contact with birds or poultry and to reveal their travel history to healthcare staff when seeking medical consultation. The general public should adopt a healthy lifestyle such as covering the nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing, maintaining proper hand hygiene and putting on a mask when developing symptoms of respiratory infections in order to avoid further spread of disease.
 
     The HA spokesperson added that the public can access the "Winter Surge Designated Webpage" through the HA Homepage (www.ha.org.hk/goto/wintersurge/en) and the "HA Touch" mobile app to understand the key service statistics, including A&E waiting time information, A&E attendance and the medical in-patient bed occupancy rate. Moreover, they can get information on private and charity group healthcare services during the Chinese New Year from the "One-stop medical services information portal during Chinese New Year Holidays" in the designated webpage. Members of the public are welcome to call the HA Infoline 2882 4866 for information on holiday general out-patient clinic services.
 
     The HA wishes every member of the public a healthy and prosperous Year of the Pig.

Public Holiday Clinic Services
 

* Central District Health Centre General Out-patient Clinic will provide public holiday clinic services on February 7 (Thursday).
 
Consultation Hours:

February 5 to 7 (Tuesday to Thursday)
9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm
 

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, at a media session after attending the meeting of the Legislative Council Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways today (February 1):

Reporter: Mr Chan, is there any deadline on re-submission of forms and what are the next steps for the Government at this point?

Secretary for Transport and Housing: We would expect the MTRCL (the MTR Corporation Limited) to handle it as quickly as possible. As regards to details, I would suggest you ask the MTRCL because they would be coming forward to answer questions too.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
 

     The Government today (February 1) announced the appointment of six new members and the re-appointment of eight incumbent members to the Advisory Committee of the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged for a term of two years with effect from today.

     The six new members are Mr Karson Choi Ka-tsan, Ms Anthea Lee Shuk-wai, Ms Lee Yuen-sum, Mr Lun Chi-wai, Mr Ngan Chun and Mr Tam Kin-lok.

     Mr Karson Choi Ka-tsan is the Vice Chairman of Early Light International (Holdings) Limited.

     Ms Anthea Lee Shuk-wai is the Deputy Chief Executive of the Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention, Hong Kong.

     Ms Lee Yuen-sum is the Assistant Director (Elderly and Youth) of Yang Memorial Methodist Social Service.

     Mr Lun Chi-wai is the Service Supervisor of Caritas HUGS Centre.

     Mr Ngan Chun is a teacher of Fung Kai No. 1 Primary School.

     Mr Tam Kin-lok is the Project Manager of Good Lab Foundation Limited.

     Eight incumbent members, namely Professor Alice Chong Ming-lin, Mr Raymond Lai Kwan-ho, Mr Allen Lau Kai-hung, Ms Irene Leung Shuk-yee, Mr Rex Mok Chung-fai, Ms Malina Ngai Man-lin, Mr Justin Wai and Ms Yim Chor-pik, have been re-appointed.

     The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, said that the appointed and re-appointed members come from the social welfare sector, the business community and academia, including two young people appointed through the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth. He said he looked forward to the Advisory Committee's wise counsel on the development of the Fund and the promotion of cross-sectoral collaboration in Hong Kong. He also thanked the four outgoing members, Ms Jasmine Chan Hoi-yan, Dr Raymond Lee Man-chun, Ms Angelique Tam Chi-wah and Ms May Wong May-kwan, for their support and contribution to the Fund.

     The Government set up the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged in 2005 for promoting tripartite partnership among the welfare community, the business sector and the Government to help the disadvantaged. The Advisory Committee, chaired by the Director of Social Welfare, examines applications for the Fund and advises on matters relating to its operation.

     The Government provides matching grants with regard to the donations made by business partners to support welfare non-governmental organisations in running social welfare projects. To date the Government has injected a total of $1.2 billion. Apart from a commitment of $800 million for the Regular Portion of the Fund to help the disadvantaged, a total of $400 million has been earmarked as the Dedicated Portion. Since its launch in 2015, the Dedicated Portion has been actively promoting the "Citizens-Business-Government-School" collaboration to implement more after-school learning and support programmes for primary and secondary school students from grass-roots families to facilitate their whole-person development.

     The membership list of non-official members of the Advisory Committee with effect from today is as follows:

Mr Karson Choi Ka-tsan
Professor Alice Chong Ming-lin
Mr Raymond Lai Kwan-ho
Mr Allen Lau Kai-hung
Ms Anthea Lee Shuk-wai
Ms Lee Yuen-sum
Ms Irene Leung Shuk-yee
Mr Lun Chi-wai
Mr Rex Mok Chung-fai
Ms Malina Ngai Man-lin
Mr Ngan Chun*
Mr Tam Kin-lok*
Mr Justin Wai
Ms Yim Chor-pik

* Appointed through the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth.