A person in custody was found unconscious and died after resuscitation attempts in Stanley Prison today (April 3).

     The 73-year-old male person in custody suffered from heart disease. He required continuous medical care and follow-up at the institution hospital and a public hospital. At 7.13am today, a correctional officer found him unconscious on his bed inside a cell. The officer immediately called for reinforcement to provide first aid treatment to him, and an ambulance was called at once. After attempts at resuscitation, the person in custody was certified dead at 7.40am.

     The case has been reported to the Police. A death inquest will be held by the Coroner's Court.

     The deceased was sentenced to imprisonment for the offence of throwing corrosive fluid with intent to do grievous bodily harm in October 2020.

     A Government spokesman announced today (April 3) that the supply of fresh food from the Mainland yesterday (April 2) was sufficient and stable.

     According to the latest information, the quantity of vegetables supplied from the Mainland to Hong Kong yesterday (as of midnight) by land and water transportation was near 2 300 tonnes, comparable to the average daily supply from the Mainland on a normal day. The volume of vegetables supplied from the Mainland to Hong Kong sold through the wholesale markets of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and the Vegetable Marketing Organization was about 756 tonnes. The average wholesale prices of choi sum and pak choi stood at $14.40 and $8.60 per catty respectively yesterday. The supply of eggs to the wholesale market remained steady, with the average daily supply standing at about 3.2 million for the past week, largely comparable to the average daily supply on a normal day last year.

     The total supply of chilled meat from the Mainland yesterday was about 42 tonnes. The supply of live pigs was normal.

     The supply of chilled poultry from the Mainland was over 160 000 head yesterday, and about 12 000 live chickens were slaughtered locally. The supply was sufficient.

     Regarding the rice supply, in compliance with the requirement of the Government, stockholders of rice have to maintain the reserve stock of rice at a level sufficient for consumption by the local population for 15 days. The trade generally stocks double the required amount, which is sufficient for one month's consumption by Hong Kong citizens. In recent years, the import and consumption of rice in Hong Kong has stood at a steady level of around 320 000 to 330 000 tonnes per year. The import quantity (including reserve stock) as of end-February 2022 was 29 000 tonnes. Suppliers also maintain a reserve for food that can be stored, such as frozen meat, for around three months' stock generally.

     The Government will continue to maintain close liaison with the Mainland authorities and major food suppliers to ensure a stable food supply.

     The AFCD updates and publishes the fresh food supply information daily. Members of the public may visit the AFCD website for updates on daily supplies and wholesale prices of fresh food (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/agriculture/agr_fresh/agr_fresh.html).

     The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, today (April 3) said that consumption vouchers under Phase I of the 2022 Consumption Voucher Scheme (CVS) will be disbursed to about 6.3 million eligible persons on April 7.
 
     He said that all people who successfully registered under the CVS last year will receive the new round of vouchers on April 7 (Note 1). They will successively receive relevant SMS notifications or mobile app push notifications on that day.
 
     People using accounts of AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK for receiving voucher will be disbursed with a $5,000 voucher with the expiry date of October 31 on the disbursement day.
 
     Vouchers collected via Octopus will be disbursed by two instalments. People may start to collect the first $4,000 voucher by tapping the card on that day. They may collect the vouchers at the Subsidy Collection Points of the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme, designated convenience stores and supermarkets, Octopus Service Points or via Octopus mobile app. In view of the current stored value limit of Octopus card, people are not able to collect more than $3,000 voucher value when tapping their cards for the first time and the remaining value can be collected by tapping the card again after the stored value of the Octopus card is lowered. In other words, the $4,000 voucher can be fully collected by tapping the card several times.
 
     Similar to the arrangement of the CVS last year, when people using Octopus Card for local consumption, those consumption falling within the usage scope of the consumption vouchers will automatically be counted towards the total "eligible spending. If people's cumulative total "eligible spending" has reached $4,000 between May to October, the last $1,000 voucher will be disbursed on the 16th day of the following month. In other words, if the "eligible spending" has reached $4,000 by end May, people will receive the last $1,000 voucher on June 16 at the earliest. The "eligible spending" has to reach the target by end October the latest in order to collect the last voucher by tapping the card on November 16.
 
     The Government reminded the public that as the epidemic situation is still severe, they should strictly comply with the anti-epidemic measures during consumption. As the vouchers are valid for seven months with the expiry date of October 31, there is no urgency to go out for spending. For people receiving vouchers through Octopus, there is no need to rush for collection on the first few days after disbursement at the above locations, and they may use the Octopus mobile app to collect the vouchers as far as possible.
 
     For eligible persons whose SVF accounts registered under the CVS last year have become invalid but have not yet updated their registration record, they may still submit their amendment applications through the following channels, using another account of the same SVF to register for collecting the voucher (Note 2):
 
1) Download the "Application Form for Amendment of Stored Value Facility Account" from the CVS website (www.consumptionvoucher.gov.hk) or call the hotline 18 5000 to obtain the form by post, email or fax, and send the completed form together with a copy of the Hong Kong identity card to the "Consumption Voucher Scheme Secretariat at PO Box 185000, General Post Office, Hong Kong". It is not necessary to affix stamps on the envelope if posted locally (the Government will bear the postage).
 
2) For Octopus users, they may do the above amendment through the link provided in the CVS website. JoyYou cardholders who need to make the above amendment may call the Octopus hotline 2969 5500 for making amendment.
 
     The Government also reminded people using Octopus for receiving vouchers to keep safe custody of their cards in order to avoid loss or inconvenience due to loss of the cards.
 
     The public may browse the apps and websites or call the following hotlines of the relevant SVF operators to enquire about how to use the vouchers, the value of the vouchers disbursed, unspent/uncollected voucher balance, expiry dates, etc.
 
– AlipayHK: 2245 3201
– Octopus: 2969 5500
– Tap & Go: 2888 0000
– WeChat Pay HK: 3929 1666
 
Note 1:
Save in exceptional circumstances such as the stored value facility (SVF) account registered under the 2021 CVS has become invalid but has not yet been successfully updated, the registrant has passed away, etc.
 
Note 2:
The same SVF account cannot be registered by more than one registrant for receiving consumption vouchers.

     The Government yesterday (April 2) exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) to make a "restriction-testing declaration" effective from 3pm yesterday, under which people (hereafter referred to as "persons subject to compulsory testing") within the specified "restricted area" in Kowloon Bay (i.e. Block 9, Richland Gardens, Kowloon Bay, excluding Richland Gardens Management Office) were 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. 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, were not required to undergo testing in this compulsory testing exercise.

     Moreover, the Government issued a compulsory testing notice yesterday to any persons, other than those specified above, who had been present at the building for more than two hours from March 20 to April 2, 2022, to undergo compulsory testing on or before April 4, 2022, even if they were not present in the "restricted area" at the time when the declaration took effect.

     The Government finished the compulsory testing exercise at around 10am today (April 3) and is now carrying out enforcement actions in the "restricted area" to verify that all people in the "restricted area" have undergone compulsory testing. The Government will further announce the revocation time of the declaration.

     Starting from around 10am today, persons in the specified "restricted area" in Kowloon Bay who have undergone testing and are able to present SMS notifications with negative test results or wear wristbands as proof of having undergone testing may leave the "restricted area" through the designated exit after providing personal information to a prescribed officer.

     The Government set up temporary specimen collection stations in the "restricted area" yesterday and requested persons subject to compulsory testing to collect combined nasal and throat swab samples at the stations to undergo a COVID-19 virus test before 9pm yesterday. A total of 474 people within the "restricted area" had undergone testing, among which four cases tested positive. The Centre for Health Protection of the DH will arrange to follow up.

     Regarding cases tested positive in the specified "restricted area", the Government has provided additional food packs and disinfection products to these persons and their household members pending follow-up arrangement.

     Moreover, the Government also assigned staff to visit 264 households in the "restricted area", among which 32 households did not answer the door. The Government will take measures to follow up.

     The Government reiterates that enforcement actions will be taken seriously. Any person who fails to present an SMS notification with a test result or wear a wristband as proof of having undergone testing breaches the compulsory testing notice and may be liable to a fine of $10,000. The person will also be issued with a compulsory testing order, requiring him/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 may be liable to a fine of level 5 ($50,000) and imprisonment for six months.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     During the winter surge, the Hospital Authority closely monitors the service demand of Accident and Emergency Departments and the occupancy rates in public hospitals. Key service statistics are issued daily for public information. Details are in the appended table.