A Government spokesman said today (April 13) that a total of 470 628 applications for the Temporary Unemployment Relief Scheme had been received by the time the application period of the Scheme ended at 11.59pm last night (Apri… read more
The Task Force of Supplies from the Mainland led by the Transport and Housing Bureau (THB) has been working closely with the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government to explore various means to stabilise the supply of goods from the Mainland to Hong Kong. In addition to road transport arrangements, transportation of goods by water and railway is already in service.
A spokesperson for the THB said that the “Sea Express” water transportation service from the Mainland to Hong Kong has been fully launched and its capacity is rising to increase the supplies of fresh food, other daily necessities and manufacturing materials. The current supply of fresh food from the Mainland is stable.
Currently, there are three water transportation routes between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, namely (1) from Shenzhen Yantian International Container Terminals to Hong Kong Kwai Tsing Container Terminals (KTCT); (2) from Shenzhen DaChan Bay Terminals to KTCT; and (3) from China Merchants Port (South China) Management Center (Shenzhen Mawan, Shekou and Chiwan Container Terminals) to Hong Kong River Trade Terminal and elsewhere. Together with the water transportation routes from other cities in Guangdong Province, including the routes from Guangzhou Lianhuashan Port, Nansha Port, Huadu Port, Zhongshan Huangpu Port and Zhuhai Doumen Port to different terminals in Hong Kong, the water transport capacity amounts to tens of thousands of tonnes daily.
The spokesperson said today (April 13) that Shenzhen operated 57 cargo vessel trips and transported around 8 080 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cross-boundary supplies by water yesterday (April 12), equivalent to about 27 150 tonnes of goods, of which around 20 TEUs (about 160 tonnes) were fresh food and around 8 060 TEUs (about 26 990 tonnes) were non-fresh food, according to information from the Mainland authorities.
Since the launch of services from the three ports in Shenzhen since February 18 to yesterday, a total of around 174 620 TEUs of cross-boundary supplies have been transported, equivalent to about 1 027 490 tonnes of goods, of which around 1 290 TEUs (about 11 380 tonnes) were fresh food and around 173 330 TEUs (about 1 016 110 tonnes) were non-fresh food.
To further ensure a stable goods supply to Hong Kong through land transport, a trial run of cargo transfer was conducted by the THB at a yard situated on Kam Pok Road, San Tin, Yuen Long, and it was completed smoothly. The THB will continue to work with the Mainland authorities to fully take forward cargo transfer arrangements on the Hong Kong side. It is a contingency measure in response to the latest epidemic situation in the city so as to reduce the risk of epidemic transmission in both the Mainland and Hong Kong, ensuring both smooth cross-boundary land transport and a stable goods supply to Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, to avoid a spillover of the epidemic, the Transport Department (TD) has arranged for dedicated staff to conduct rapid antigen tests (RATs) for cross-boundary goods vehicle drivers at various land boundary control points (BCPs) from February 28 onwards. Only drivers with a negative result are allowed to enter the Mainland. In order to further improve the accuracy of the tests, the TD has already replaced the RATs with rapid nucleic acid tests at the BCPs. A total of 2 086 rapid nucleic acid tests were conducted yesterday in which 12 drivers preliminarily tested positive. The TD has passed the cases to the Department of Health for follow-up.
The THB will closely monitor the situation and co-operate with the Mainland authorities to facilitate and implement various measures to ensure a stable goods supply to Hong Kong, with a view to complementing the supply through road, water and railway transport, enhancing capacity and efficiency as well as optimising the flow of cross-boundary supplies. read more
Following is the opening remarks (English translation) by the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, on planning and lands policy areas at the special meeting of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Finance Committee today (April 13… read more
The Government announced today (April 13) that free COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits will be made available to elderly service recipients aged 60 or above during the period from April 19 (Tuesday) to May 31 (Tuesday) through the elderly district health services units under the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) and the Department of Health (DH), the elderly community care and support services units subsidised by the Social Welfare Department (SWD), and the district-based Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres (CMCTRs) operating on a tripartite collaboration model involving the Hospital Authority (HA), non-government organisations (NGOs) and a local university. The arrangement aims to support and encourage the elderly to conduct testing on their own for early identification of infected persons and curbing of community transmission chains. The arrangement will be reviewed in due course.
A Government spokesman said, “To ensure that infected elderly people can receive appropriate and timely treatment, the Government will supply free RAT kits to the elderly so as to encourage them to undergo voluntary testing from time to time. In particular, individuals who are in doubt about their own health conditions (e.g. those with symptoms such as fever and/or respiratory tract infection) or with higher infection risks (e.g. those who had contact with confirmed cases or symptomatic persons) should undergo testing as soon as possible, with a view to achieving the goal of ‘early identification, early isolation and early treatment’.”
From April 19 to May 31, eligible elderly service recipients of the following service units can collect free RAT kits via channels stated below:
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited relating to a fraudulent website and phishing email, which has been reported to the HKMA. A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website.
The HKMA wishes to remind the public that banks will not send SMS or e-mails with embedded hyperlinks which direct them to the banks’ websites to carry out transactions. They will not ask customers for sensitive personal information, such as login passwords or One-Time Password, by phone, email or SMS (including via embedded hyperlinks).
Anyone who has provided his or her personal information, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the website or email concerned, should contact the bank using the contact information provided in the press release, and report the matter to the Police by contacting the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012. read more