Tag Archives: China

     The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) today (April 3) completed the “restriction-testing declaration” (RTD) operation at Hong Wing House, Cheung Hong Estate in Tsing Yi. As part of the anti-epidemic team, the CSB has been staying at the anti-epidemic front line to promote COVID-19 vaccination and will continue to mobilise civil servants from various bureaux and departments to take part in the fight against the epidemic.

     The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, and the Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, together with about 80 staff members from the CSB, participated in the RTD operation at Hong Wing House. The staff members are colleagues from the Administrative Officer Grade, the Executive Officer Grade, the Training Officer Grade, the Official Languages Officer Grade, the Analyst/Programmer Grade, and the Clerical and Secretarial Grades. They put the fight against the epidemic as their priority regardless of their original duties.

     Yesterday (April 2), apart from arranging the residents for specimen collection for testing in batches; distributing food packs and rapid antigen test kits, as well as anti-epidemic proprietary Chinese medicines donated by the Central People’s Government, etc, to residents subject to compulsory testing; and setting up an information counter of the Home Vaccination Service, the CSB also went door-to-door to collect registration information of unvaccinated elderly persons aged 70 or above and of persons who are unable to leave their homes for vaccination due to illness or physical disability for arranging door-to-door vaccination for them.

     Meanwhile, staff from the Bureau who are working under the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme also carried out liaison, preparation, backend support, and arrangement of medical team visit at Hong Wing House, etc, for the Home Vaccination Service, so as to conduct the door-to-door vaccination service trial to persons with special needs and tested negative, upon soft opening of the “restricted area”.

     Four residents received the Sinovac vaccine today under the Home Vaccination Service. Among them, there are three unvaccinated elderly persons aged 78 to 87, and one household member.

     “Following our door-to-door vaccination service trials at Sun Kit House, Sun Chui Estate in Sha Tin on March 31 and Hong Wing House, Cheung Hong Estate in Tsing Yi today, we will conduct trials in other suitable venues and then expand the Home Vaccination Service to persons with special needs in all buildings under RTD operation,” Mr Nip said.

     He added, “The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government assumes the primary responsibility in anti-epidemic work. As the backbone of the HKSAR Government, the civil service is obligated and assumes an important responsibility in anti-epidemic work. The fight against the epidemic is the current overriding mission. In face of the extremely severe situation of the fifth wave of the epidemic, the whole Government is united and keeps firmly in mind the duty of winning the battle against the epidemic with our utmost effort.”

     Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, the CSB has been proactively participating in anti-epidemic work over the past two years. It co-ordinates the manpower deployment for anti-epidemic work and spares no effort in promoting COVID-19 vaccination. The CSB will continue to mobilise government employees in the frontline anti-epidemic work, including RTD operations, contact tracing, packaging and distribution of anti-epidemic service bags, etc.

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:      The Hospital Authority today (April 3) announced information regarding patients who tested positive via admission screening or testing with patients or staff … read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:      The Hospital Authority today (April 3) announced information regarding patients who tested positive via admission screening or testing with patients or staff … 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, Zhongshan Huangpu Port and Zhuhai Doumen Port to Hong Kong Tuen Mun Chu Kong Pier, the water transport capacity amounts to tens of thousands of tonnes daily.
 
     The spokesperson said today (April 3) that Shenzhen transported around 5 810 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cross-boundary supplies by water yesterday (April 2), equivalent to about 21 250 tonnes of goods, of which around 10 TEUs (about 50 tonnes) were fresh food and around 5 800 TEUs (about 21 200 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 104 230 TEUs of cross-boundary supplies have been transported, equivalent to about 718 970 tonnes of goods, of which around 1 090 TEUs (about 9 800 tonnes) were fresh food and around 103 140 TEUs (about 709 170 tonnes) were non-fresh food.
 
     As for rail cargo, mainly anti-epidemic supplies are being transported at the moment. Six TEUs with a total of 12 tonnes of goods were transported to Hong Kong yesterday. Since its launch on March 2 and up to yesterday, more than 1 390 tonnes of goods including anti-epidemic supplies such as COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits and protective gowns were transported to Hong Kong.
 
     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 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 1 459 rapid nucleic acid tests were conducted yesterday in which two 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 the capacity and efficiency as well as optimising the flow of cross-boundary supplies. read more

     â€‹The Government today (April 3) 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 5pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as “persons subject to compulsory testing”) within the specified “restricted area” in Kwun Tong (i.e. Choi Lok House, Choi Fook Estate, Kwun Tong, excluding elderly centre on G/F, 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 about 1pm tomorrow (April 4). 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’. As the sewage discharged from the above building tested positive for COVID-19, it is suspected that there are asymptomatic patients in the building. Given the risk of infection in the relevant area is assessed to be likely higher, the Government decided to make a ‘restriction-testing declaration’ for the relevant area.”
 
     The Government sets up temporary specimen collection stations at the “restricted area” and request persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo testing before 9.30pm 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, will not be 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 1pm 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 March 21 to April 3, 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 5, 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.
 
     In addition, the Water Supplies Department has set up hotlines (Tel: 9546 2501 or 9867 3814) which have started operation at 5pm today for residents restricted by the declaration to make enquiries and seek assistance. The Social Welfare Department will also provide assistance to the affected persons.
 
     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. read more