The following is issued on behalf of the Quality Education Fund Steering Committee:

    The Chairman of the Quality Education Fund (QEF) Steering Committee, Dr Gordon Tsui, today (July 4) announced the direction of the QEF, including the seven priority themes for 2019/20 and the "My Pledge to Act" (2019) funding programme.

     Dr Tsui said, "Since its establishment in 1998, the QEF, in line with the education development and policies of Hong Kong, has been striving to enhance the quality of school education and promote quality education by introducing new priority themes to address the needs of school education. The QEF will on August 1 introduce seven priority themes, which are more concise and focused, for QEF applications. The new priority themes are 'STEM Education', 'IT in Education', 'Assessment Literacy', 'Life-wide Learning', 'Positive Values', 'Students' Balanced Development' and 'Effective Leadership and School Management'."

     Dr Tsui added that apart from the above priority themes, applicants could apply to undertake other innovative projects that meet the needs of schools to enhance the quality of school education.

     Dr Tsui continued, "The QEF has also formulated theme-based funding programmes in the past. In the 2019/20 school year, the QEF will introduce a new funding programme – 'My Pledge to Act' (2019), to rally concerted efforts of schools, families and other stakeholders in society to enhance our commitment to nurturing talent as well as cultivating a positive school atmosphere."

     This funding programme will be applicable to all publicly funded schools and the kindergartens joining the kindergarten education scheme. The programme will be implemented for three consecutive school years starting from 2019/20. The call for submission of applications will start in September 2019. The QEF has devised a simplified application form and provided relevant reference materials for schools' reference. Details of the application and relevant reference materials will soon be uploaded to the QEF website and the Education Bureau website of "My Pledge to Act" respectively.
     
     To provide further details on the priority themes and the "My Pledge to Act" (2019) funding programme, two briefing sessions will be held on August 20 and August 21 respectively. Interested parties may refer to the details on the QEF website (qef.org.hk).

     In future, the QEF will continue to enhance communication and partnership with various stakeholders to create and share successful QEF project experiences. More than 40 QEF Thematic Networks will be launched in the coming year to encourage knowledge transfer and sustainable professional development of teachers and benefit more schools. The QEF also regularly uploads the proposals of QEF funded projects to the QEF Cyber Resource Centre (qcrc.qef.org.hk) for applicants' reference.

     QEF deliverables (such as learning and teaching resources) can be purchased by completing the order form at the QEF Cyber Resource Centre website or via Hong Kong Education City (edmall.hkedcity.net/store). In addition, the QEF deliverables are available at ShopThruPost (shopthrupost.hongkongpost.hk) administered by Hongkong Post. The QEF has also identified good projects for developing electronic deliverables with interactive functions to facilitate students' self-directed learning. So far, over 100 sets of electronic deliverables have been developed. The public can access these deliverables via the QEF Cyber Resource Centre and Hong Kong Education City.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     Regarding an earlier announcement on a patient confirmed to be a Candida auris carrier, the spokesperson for Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) gave the following update today (July 4):
 
     According to the contact tracing result, a 59-year-old male patient has been confirmed as carrying Candida auris while not having signs of infection. The patient is a resident of the United States (US). He developed cardiac arrest when he was in transit at Hong Kong International Airport from the Philippines to the US on May 8. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and then the Medical and Geriatric Ward of PMH. The patient is now being treated under isolation with stable condition. In accordance with the prevailing guidelines, PMH has commenced contact tracing for the patient. The following enhanced infection control measures have already been adopted:
 

1. Thorough cleaning and disinfection of the wards concerned;
2. Enhanced patient and environmental screening procedures; and
3. Application of stringent contact precautions and enhanced hand hygiene for staff and patients.

 
     The hospital will continue to closely monitor the situation of the patient. The case has been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow-up.

     The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, chaired the eighth meeting of the Steering Group on the Modification of Recycling and Refuse Collection Facilities in Public Places today (July 4) to discuss the views collected during Phase 1 of the Public Engagement (PE) on recycling and refuse collection facilities in public places and corresponding design improvements.

     The Steering Group commissioned a consultancy which, with the aid of prototypes based on previous discussion of conceptual designs, conducted Phase 1 of the PE to collect views on handling and design details of litter containers and recycling bins from front-line staff, members of staff unions, the cleaning industry, the design industry and academia. More than 250 people participated in the PE, including over 140 front-line staff. The participants supported the conceptual designs for litter containers and recycling bins in general, including the use of conspicuous colours for bin shells, specialised shapes for bin openings targeting different recyclables, and a transparent panel for indoor recycling bins. 

     Mr Wong said, "The Steering Group attaches great importance to the views of participants. We are glad to learn that most views considered that the new conceptual designs meet relevant occupational safety and health needs, including measures to reduce lifting. The Steering Group is supportive of the design modifications made by the consultancy in response to the views collected. The consultancy will further collect views from various stakeholders during Phase 2 of the PE programme, to be conducted in the near future, to optimise the design.

     To support the implementation of municipal solid waste charging, the Steering Group was set up in February 2016 to review the design and distribution of recycling and refuse collection facilities in public places and recommend necessary modifications to facilitate waste reduction and resource recovery in the community. Chaired by the Secretary for the Environment, the Steering Group comprises members from the design, architectural, planning, academic and business sectors; non-profit making groups; and relevant government departments. It also includes district personalities.

     ACT Genomics Holdings Co Ltd, a precision cancer treatment solution provider, opened its Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) laboratory in Hong Kong today (July 4) as part of its strategic plan to meet growing demand for cancer genomic profiling services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
 
     The new laboratory is located at the Hong Kong Science Park. Measuring about 7 000 square feet, the laboratory is supported by a workforce responsible for sales, medical science and research and laboratory work, and is equipped with dual sequencing platforms (Ion GeneStudio S5 System and NextSeq 550 System) that boast both speed (quick turnover time for clinical reports) and throughput (high specimen volume or high sequencing depth for research purposes). It is designed and built to serve the clinical, pharmaceutical and research communities in the city and Asia, and also aspires to capture the tremendous opportunities in the Greater Bay Area in future. 
 
     Founded in Taiwan in 2014, ACT Genomics provides cancer patients with personalised genomic information based-treatment plans through its cutting-edge NGS platform, medical reports and integrated services. The platform is capable of detecting multiple genomic alterations using a single tissue sample within a single test run.
 
     When used together with sophisticated bioinformatics analysis tools, curated proprietary medical informatic databases and data visualisation technologies, it can match identified mutations with not only approved therapies but also targeted therapies in clinical trials, thereby facilitating "precision medicine" treatment.
 
     At the ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of ACT Genomics, Dr Chen Hua-chien, said, "With over 31 000 new cancer cases in Hong Kong every year, it is crucial for cancer treatment solutions to stay on the cutting edge, which is the mission of ACT Genomics. We are here to transform the existing cancer treatment model and make cancer more manageable. Our NGS platform provides physicians with an essential reference for prescribing the most appropriate and effective treatment to a patient. We intend to draw from our successful experience in Taiwan and replicate it in Hong Kong with the help of this new world-class NGS laboratory."
 
     Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion Mr Charles Ng said, "Biotech is one of the innovation areas that is growing rapidly in Hong Kong. The Greater Bay Area is a huge market with a population of 71 million people. As the city is being positioned as the global innovation and technology hub within the Greater Bay Area and with our established business and legal systems, Hong Kong offers a convenient platform for international biotech and other laboratories to manage their operations across the Greater Bay Area."
 
About ACT Genomics
 
     ACT Genomics is an innovation-driven cancer solution provider in Asia with offices in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. With its NGS technology and experienced bioinformatics team, it provides optimal cancer treatment planning, cancer relapse and drug resistance monitoring, cancer risk assessment and immunotherapy evaluation to medical professionals. Its team specialises in biomarker identification, underlying disease mechanism discovery and genetic alteration exploration. Pharmaceutical communities also benefit from its expertise in identifying targets for drug development, stratifying patients for clinical studies and delineating drug responses. For more information, please visit www.actgenomics.com.
          
About Invest Hong Kong
          
     Invest Hong Kong is the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government responsible for attracting foreign direct investment and supporting overseas and Mainland businesses to set up or expand in Hong Kong. It provides free advice and customised services for overseas and Mainland companies. For more information, please visit www.investhk.gov.hk.
 
     For event photos, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/albums/72157709399200936.

    

     The Immigration Department (ImmD) mounted an anti-illegal worker operation codenamed "Twilight" on July 2 and 3. A total of 14 illegal workers and six suspected employers were arrested.
      
     During the operation, ImmD Task Force officers raided 19 restaurants in Kowloon. Fourteen illegal workers and six employers were arrested. The illegal workers comprised four men and 10 women, aged 21 to 60. Among them, two men were holders of recognisance forms, which prohibit them from taking any employment. In addition, two men and eight women were suspected of using and being in possession of forged Hong Kong identity cards or identity cards relating to another person. Meanwhile, three men and three women, aged 33 to 57, were suspected of employing the illegal workers.
      
     "Any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him shall be guilty of an offence. Also, visitors are not allowed to take employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the permission of the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years' imprisonment. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties," an ImmD spokesman said.
 
     The spokesman warned that, as stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, illegal immigrants or people who are the subject of a removal order or a deportation order are prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years' imprisonment. The Court of Appeal has issued a guideline ruling that a sentence of 15 months' imprisonment should be applied in such cases. It is an offence to use or possess a forged Hong Kong identity card or a Hong Kong identity card related to another person. Offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and up to 10 years' imprisonment.
     
     The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for three years and a fine of $350,000. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence. According to the court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee's identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker's valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. The maximum penalty for failing to inspect such a document is imprisonment for one year and a fine of $150,000.
 
     Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct initial screening of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threat and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent interference, medical services, counselling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments.