The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (December 10) reported a suspected case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and again urged the public to pay special attention to safety during travel, taking due consideration of the health risks in the places they visit. The case is detailed below:
 

 
    Separately, the CHP reported that the suspected MERS case pending results yesterday (December 9), upon preliminary testing, tested negative for MERS Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
     
     "Travellers to the Middle East should avoid going to farms, barns or markets with camels; avoid contact with sick persons and animals, especially camels, birds or poultry; and avoid unnecessary visits to healthcare facilities. We strongly advise travel agents organising tours to the Middle East to abstain from arranging camel rides and activities involving direct contact with camels, which are known risk factors for acquiring MERS-CoV," a spokesman for the CHP said.

     Locally, the CHP's surveillance with public and private hospitals, with practising doctors and at boundary control points is firmly in place. Inbound travellers and members of the public who recently visited the Middle East and developed fever or lower respiratory symptoms within 14 days will be classified as suspected MERS cases. They will be taken to public hospitals for isolation and management until their specimens test negative for MERS-CoV.

     Travellers to affected areas should maintain vigilance, adopt appropriate health precautions and take heed of personal, food and environmental hygiene. The public may visit the MERS pages of the CHP and its Travel Health Service, MERS statistics in affected areas, the CHP's Facebook Page and YouTube Channel, and the World Health Organization's latest news for more information and health advice. Tour leaders and tour guides operating overseas tours are advised to refer to the CHP's health advice on MERS.

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, at a media session after attending an event today (December 10):
     
Reporter: Are HKSAR authorities investigating why Meng Wanzhou actually has three HKSAR passports? Is she hiding that she has three passports?

Secretary for Security: I have earlier explained in Cantonese very clearly the procedures in regard to an applicant when he or she wants to apply for replacement of (HKSAR) passport and what the procedure will be. On the approval of this application, Immigration Officers will first ask the applicant to surrender his or her passport, so that Immigration Officers would cancel that passport, and then he or she will be given the new passport together with the old, cancelled passport. If you talk about the immigration record of a particular person for a long period of time, it is very natural that the record will show that the person might have used more than one passport, because the record indicates what passport a person uses during that period of validity. So it is very natural that even you and I, if you look at the immigration record for a long time, then it will show that you have used more than one passport because at different times the validity of the passport makes you use that particular passport.
 
     The occasion when one may be using both old and new passports will be when the old passport contains a visa which remains valid, despite the cancellation of the old passport. Then the person will have to produce both old and new passports in order to show first of all he or she has a valid travel document, and there is a valid visa attached to the old passport for the immigration officials of that particular country to check. How the officers of that country will record the documents is really up to them, because he will have to follow the procedures as laid down by his own authorities. The most important thing is, at any one time, an SAR passport holder can only hold one valid passport.              

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

     The Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung, today (December 10) visited Tsuen Wan District to meet with members of the Tsuen Wan District Council (TWDC) and call at a secondary school.

     Accompanied by the District Officer (Tsuen Wan), Miss Jenny Yip, Mr Yeung first went to the TWDC to meet and exchange views with the Chairman, Mr Chung Wai-ping, and members on education and other district issues.   

     He then visited Yan Chai Hospital Lim Por Yen Secondary School, where he was briefed on the latest developments at the school and chatted with teachers and students to learn more about the learning outcomes of those students engaged in the school's innovation and invention programmes.

     In the past three years, students of the school have netted 161 international innovation and invention awards, comprising 16 gold, 26 silver, 32 bronze and 87 special prizes.

     Mr Yeung said he was pleased to learn that the school has encouraged students to learn outside the classroom by promoting diversified learning activities, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education and various exchange programmes.

     He said, "Starting from the 2019/20 school year, a new recurrent Life-wide Learning Grant with an annual provision of $900 million will be provided to public sector schools and schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme to organise more out-of-classroom experiential learning activities in various curriculum areas such as humanities, STEM education, physical and aesthetic development, and moral and civic education.

     "In addition, we will also set up the Student Activities Support Fund with a total amount of $2.5 billion to support students with financial needs to participate in various life-wide learning activities beyond the classroom."  

     Mr Yeung hoped that these initiatives would be able to provide more diversified learning opportunities for students and broaden their horizons for whole-person development.

     To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening up of the country, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government held a thematic seminar to review the contributions of Hong Kong in the reform and opening up of the country and to explore the role of and opportunities for Hong Kong in the country's further reform and opening up at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) today (December 10).

     The seminar, with the theme of Hong Kong jointly developing with the country and sharing the prosperity in the country's reform and opening up in the past four decades, drew an audience of about 900. 

     During the seminar, the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, and the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, Mr Wang Zhimin, both delivered speeches. The Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Mr Cai Fang, and the Chairman of the Fung Group, Dr Victor Fung, also gave keynote addresses. The seminar was concluded by the Chief Secretary for Administration cum Chairman of the Steering Committee for the HKSAR's Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Reform and Opening Up of the Country, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung. 

     During the seminar, the Convenor of the Non-official Members of the Executive Council, Mr Bernard Chan, moderated a discussion session attended by Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dr Zhou Qi; the President and Founding Member of the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong, Professor Tsui Lap-chee; the Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Dr Jonathan Choi; Member of the HKSAR Basic Law Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Professor Han Dayuan; the Honorary Chairman of Beijing Air Catering Limited, Ms Annie Wu, and the Founding and Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital China, Mr Neil Shen. They exchanged views on Hong Kong's participation in the country’s reform and opening up, as well as the city's future role and positioning in the overall development of the country. 

     The Steering Committee for the HKSAR's Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Reform and Opening Up of the Country chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration will continue to co-ordinate celebration activities organised by government bureaux and various sectors of the community. For the latest update of these activities, please visit the dedicated website at www.reformandopeningup40a.gov.hk.

  

     Hongkong Post announced today (December 10) that, as advised by the postal administration of Australia, mail delivery services to New South Wales (postcodes 2XXX, 1695 and 3129) have returned to normal.