Police today (April 25) laid a holding charge against a 24-year-old woman with one count of murder.

     The woman was arrested yesterday (April 24) in connection with a murder case in North Point happened on April 23 in which a 19-month-old girl died.

     The case will be mentioned at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (April 26) morning.

     The Government announced today (April 25) that it has concluded discussions with the Government of Myanmar to accept vaccination records issued by Myanmar as recognised vaccination records for persons arriving at Hong Kong who have stayed in overseas places under the mechanism. The relevant arrangements will take effect at 0.00am on April 27 (Wednesday).

     From 0.00am on April 27, persons who hold a vaccination record issued by Myanmar's relevant authorities in the prescribed format can board a flight for Hong Kong from overseas places. The vaccines administered for the relevant travellers have to be vaccines listed on the Government's List of COVID-19 Vaccines Recognised for Specified Purposes.

     Meanwhile, the Government announced earlier that it accepts vaccination records recognised under the EU Digital COVID Certificate mechanism as recognised vaccination records required for the purpose of boarding flights for Hong Kong from overseas places. The European Union (EU) has recently announced the recognition of the vaccination records issued by Colombia and Malaysia as being equivalent to vaccination records issued by EU member states under the mechanism. The Government has previously reached recognition arrangements with Colombia and Malaysia. Therefore, passengers who hold a vaccination record issued by the relevant authorities of these two places can continue to board a flight for Hong Kong from overseas places under the established arrangement.

     The Government has implemented stringent inbound prevention and control measures for persons arriving at Hong Kong from overseas places. Persons who have stayed in any overseas place can only board a flight for Hong Kong if they are fully vaccinated and hold recognised vaccination records. Recognised vaccination records include (a) vaccination records issued by Hong Kong, (b) vaccination records or certifications issued by Mainland or Macao authorities or an institution recognised by Mainland or Macao authorities, (c) vaccination records or certifications issued by an authority or recognised institution of a country where its national regulatory authority is designated by the World Health Organization as a stringent regulatory authority, (d) vaccination records or certifications issued by a relevant authority or recognised institution of a country with which Hong Kong has reached a recognition agreement arrangement with its government, or (e) vaccination records issued by an organisation with which Hong Kong has reached a recognition agreement arrangement.

     The list of places or organisations that are accepted for issuing recognised vaccination records is set out in the Annex, and will be uploaded to the Government's COVID-19 thematic website.

     The Government will continue to discuss with other places on the arrangements for the recognition of vaccination records, and will update the list as recognition arrangements are agreed with these places.

     The Government today (April 25) exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) to make a "restriction-testing declaration" (declaration) effective from 4pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as "persons subject to compulsory testing") within the specified "restricted area" in Tuen Mun (i.e. Block 13, Yuet Wu Villa, Tuen Mun, see Annex) are required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing. Persons subject to compulsory testing are required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the "restricted area" have undergone testing and the test results are mostly ascertained. The Government aims at finishing this exercise at around 11am tomorrow (April 26). The operation may be extended depending on test results.

     A Government spokesman said, "Under Cap. 599J, the Government can, according to the needs of infection control, make a 'restriction-testing declaration'. Having reviewed a basket of factors, including the viral load in sewage, the information of relevant positive cases, other circumstantial factors, and conducted a risk assessment, the Government decided to make a 'restriction-testing declaration' for the relevant area."

     The Government will set up temporary specimen collection stations at the "restricted area" and request persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo testing before 9pm today. Arrangements will be made for persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo a nucleic acid test at specimen collection stations where dedicated staff will collect samples through combined nasal and throat swabs. Persons subject to compulsory testing must stay at their place of residence until all test results are ascertained to avoid cross-infection risk. The Government will arrange for door-to-door specimen collection for people with impaired mobility. All persons in the "restricted area" who have tested positive in the past three months, including positive cases identified either by nucleic acid tests recorded by the Department of Health (DH) or by rapid antigen tests that have been self-declared to the DH, are not required to undergo testing in this compulsory testing exercise.

     The Government spokesman said, "We understand that this exercise will cause inconvenience to the public. The Government has made arrangements to carry out testing for all persons present in the 'restricted area' as soon as possible. The aim is to strive to complete testing of all identified persons subject to compulsory testing and confirm the results, and finish the exercise at around 11am tomorrow. The Government will make a public announcement when the declaration expires officially. In the cases in which employees are unable to go to work because of the declaration, the Government hopes their employers can exercise discretion and not deduct the salaries or benefits of the employees."

     If staying in the "restricted area" will cause unreasonable hardship to individuals who are not residents in the area when the declaration takes effect, government officers may exercise discretion and allow that person to leave the area after considering the individual circumstances. That person must have followed the instructions to undergo testing and leave his/her personal information for contact purposes.

     According to the compulsory testing notice to be issued today, any persons other than those specified above who had been present at the above building for more than two hours from April 19 to April 25, 2022, even if they were not present in the "restricted area" at the time when the declaration took effect, must undergo compulsory testing on or before April 27, 2022. As a mutant strain is involved, for prudence's sake, vaccinated persons and persons who have recently been tested are also required to undergo testing.

     For the 2022 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) candidates who are within the "restricted area" and need to sit the HKDSE examination on the following day, or examination personnel who need to take up invigilation duties for HKDSE on the following day, the Government appeals to them to go to the temporary specimen collection stations setup within the "restricted area" before 7pm today and present to the prescribed officer the relevant documents (including the identification documents and HKDSE admission forms, or a certification letter issued by the school of the examination personnel) proving their identities. These HKDSE candidates and examination personnel will be given priority testing with a view to enabling them to obtain test results on the following day as early as possible. The priority testing arrangement also applies to the family members who live together with these HKDSE candidates and examination personnel, so as to identify those HKDSE candidates and examination personnel who have become close contacts of confirmed cases for making quarantine arrangement.

     If any HKDSE candidate or examination personnel needs to leave the "restricted area" for the examination centre before the declaration is revoked, he/she can make a request to the prescribed officers within the "restricted area". The prescribed officer may allow the candidate or the examination personnel to leave the "restricted area" after verifying his/her testing result(s) and recording the relevant information. For the safety of all candidates and examination personnel, only those candidates and examination personnel who have obtained negative test results will be allowed to enter the examination hall. For details, please read the relevant information issued by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority earlier www.hkeaa.edu.hk/DocLibrary/HKDSE/PPT_2022DSE_compulsory_testing_arrangements_eng.pdf.

     The Government appeals to persons subject to compulsory testing for their full co-operation by registering and undergoing testing, and waiting for the results patiently at home. The Government will strictly follow up on whether the persons concerned have complied with the compulsory testing notices and "restriction-testing declaration". Any person who fails to comply with the compulsory testing notices commits an offence and may be fined a fixed penalty of $10,000. The person would also be issued with a compulsory testing order requiring him or her to undergo testing within a specified time frame. Failure to comply with the compulsory testing order or the "restriction-testing declaration" is an offence and the offender would be liable to a fine at level 5 ($50,000) and imprisonment for six months.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (April 25) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in areas in Canada and France, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the relevant areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     The relevant areas are as follows:

Canada
Alberta Province
(1) Warner County 
(2) Camrose County

Saskatchewan Province
(3) Rural Municipality of Moose Creek

Ontario Province
(4) Township of West Grey

Quebec Province
(5) Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality 
(6) Les Sources Regional County Municipality

France
(7) Dordogne Department
(8) Finistère Department 
(9) Corrèze Department 
(10) Seine-Maritime Department

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 1 020 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat from Canada and about 60 tonnes of chilled poultry meat, about 4 710 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 240 000 poultry eggs from France last year.

     "The CFS has contacted the Canadian and French authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Monday, April 25, 2022 is 98.1 (up 0.6 against last Saturday's index).

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Saturday, April 23, 2022 was 97.5 (up 0.3 against last Friday's index).