The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) announced that as of 0.00am, November 10, the CHP was investigating five additional confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), taking the number of cases to 12 375 in Hong Kong so far (comprising 12 374 confirmed cases and one probable case).

     The newly reported cases are imported cases. Three of the cases involved mutant strains while the viral load of one case is insufficient for mutation tests and the mutation test result of the remaining case is pending. The patients comprise three males and two females, aged between 15 to 57 years. One of them arrived in Hong Kong from a Group A specified place (high-risk) and four of them from Group B specified places (medium-risk). Among them, cases 12376 and 12378 underwent compulsory testing in accordance with the relevant requirements for exempted persons. Their samples collected on November 8 at a community testing centre (Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre) and a mobile specimen collection station (Tung Chung North Park) respectively tested positive for COVID-19. Cases 12377 and 12379 tested positive in a test on November 8 after completion of compulsory quarantine. The remaining patient tested positive during the "test-and-hold" arrangement upon arrival at the Temporary Specimen Collection Centre at Hong Kong International Airport.

     A total of 39 cases have been reported in the past 14 days (October 27 to November 9) and all of them are imported cases.

     The CHP's epidemiological investigations and relevant contact tracing on the confirmed cases are ongoing. For case details and contact tracing information, please see the Annex or the list of buildings with confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 14 days and the latest local situation of COVID-19 available on the website "COVID-19 Thematic Website" (www.coronavirus.gov.hk). The DH has also been closely monitoring the mutant strains of SARS CoV-2 and has uploaded the relevant information on Variants of Concern (VOCs) and Variants of Interest (VOIs), based on whole genome sequencing results, to the CHP's website (www.chp.gov.hk/en/statistics/data/10/641/100135/6973.html). The data will be updated regularly.

     The spokesman for the CHP stressed, "The global situation of COVID-19 infection remains severe and there is a continuous increase in the number of cases involving mutant strains that carry higher transmissibility, and there are also reports of breakthrough infections in some vaccinated individuals. The CHP strongly urges members of the public to avoid all non-essential travel outside Hong Kong, in particular to specified places with high risk under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulation of Cross-boundary Conveyances and Travellers) Regulation (Cap. 599H)."

     The spokesman reminded, "If travel is unavoidable, the CHP highly recommends the public to be fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines before their departure. They should avoid participating in non-essential mass gatherings or events held outside Hong Kong. They should continue to wear a surgical mask and maintain strict personal and environmental hygiene at all times. Parents are also urged to avoid taking unvaccinated children travelling."

     The Government has launched the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme. Members of the public are encouraged to get vaccinated. Details of the programme can be found at the designated website (www.covidvaccine.gov.hk). Generally speaking, COVID-19 vaccination can prevent COVID-19 infection, and if infected, reduce the risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19.

     â€‹â€‹The CHP called on members of the public to pay attention to their health condition, seek medical advice early and undergo COVID-19 nucleic acid testing as soon as possible if respiratory symptoms develop. They should also maintain strict personal and environmental hygiene at all times to protect themselves against infection and prevent the spread of the disease in the community. For more related health advice, please refer to the website www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/health-advice.html.

     The Department of Health (DH) today (November 10) conducted an operation against the sale of an unregistered pharmaceutical product, namely Neo Hair Lotion, which was found to contain an undeclared drug ingredient. During the operation, a 40-year-old man was arrested by the Police for suspected illegal sale and possession of an unregistered pharmaceutical product and a Part 1 poison.

     During the DH's market surveillance, a sample of the above product was purchased via the Internet for analysis. Test results from the Government Laboratory revealed that the sample contained minoxidil.

     Minoxidil is a Part 1 poison under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Cap. 138). It can only be sold at pharmacies under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. Minoxidil is commonly used for the treatment of hair loss, with side effects including scalp irritation and itchiness.

     According to the Ordinance, all pharmaceutical products must be registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Hong Kong before they can be legally sold in the market. Illegal sale or possession of unregistered pharmaceutical products or Part 1 poisons are criminal offences. The maximum penalty for each offence is a fine of $100,000 and two years' imprisonment.

     The DH's investigation is continuing and advice will be sought from the Department of Justice on prosecution matters upon completion of the investigation.

     The DH spokesman strongly urged members of the public not to buy products of unknown or doubtful composition, or to consume products from unknown sources, as the safety, efficacy and quality of these products are not guaranteed. All registered pharmaceutical products carry a Hong Kong registration number on the label in the format of HK-XXXXX.

     People who have purchased the above product should stop using it and consult healthcare professionals for advice if in doubt or feeling unwell after use. They can submit the above product to the DH's Drug Office at Room 1801, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, during office hours for disposal.

  

     In the preceding week till 11.59pm on November 7, the Department of Health (DH) received 34 reports (Note) of adverse events following COVID-19 immunisation. No death case was reported by the Hospital Authority (HA) involving individuals who had received vaccines within 14 days before they passed away and had potential association with vaccination.

     As at 8pm on November 7, around 9.10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered for members of the public. Around 4.65 million people had received at least one dose of vaccine, accounting for 69.0 per cent of the population aged 12 or above. The DH received 6 314 reports (Note) of adverse events (0.07 per cent of the total vaccine doses administered). Among the death cases concerning persons who had been vaccinated, including 47 cases with vaccination within 14 days before they passed away (0.0005 per cent of the total vaccine doses administered), none of the death cases was associated with vaccination.

     As at November 7, the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation had concluded that 29 death cases had no causal relationship with vaccination, and preliminarily considered that 18 cases were not associated with vaccination. The Expert Committee considered that there is no unusual pattern identified so far, and will continue to closely monitor the relevant situation and collect data for assessment.

     According to information from the HA, during the period from October 11 to November 7, the ratio of death cases out of those without a vaccination record was 118.5 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of death cases for those with a vaccination record was 6.5 cases for every 100 000 people. The overall death rate is similar to that recorded in the past three years. Out of those without a vaccination record, the ratio of death cases with acute stroke or acute myocardial infarction was 6.3 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of death cases under the same category for those with a vaccination record was 0.7 cases for every 100 000 people. Furthermore, the ratio of miscarriage cases out of those without a vaccination record was 29 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of miscarriage cases for those who had a vaccination record was 11.9 cases for every 100 000 people. Based on the statistical analysis of the above figures, there is no evidence that vaccination increases the risk of death or miscarriage for recipients. The relevant reference statistics will be uploaded to the thematic website for the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme.

     The majority of non-death cases of adverse events received so far are relatively minor cases. The relevant details can be found in the "Report on the Safety Monitoring of COVID-19 Vaccines in Hong Kong" (www.drugoffice.gov.hk/eps/do/en/doc/Safety_Monitoring_of_COVID-19_Vaccines_in_Hong_Kong.pdf).

     "The Comirnaty and CoronaVac vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe cases and deaths from COVID-19. They can provide protection to those vaccinated to prevent serious complications and even deaths after infection. We appeal again to persons who are not yet vaccinated, especially senior citizens, chronic patients and other immunocompromised persons who face a higher chance of death after COVID-19 infection, to get vaccinated as soon as possible for better self-protection before the fifth wave strikes in Hong Kong," a Government spokesman said.

Note: Provisional figures. In the preceding week till 11.59pm on November 7, the DH did not receive any reports of suspected myocarditis or pericarditis involving adolescents aged 12 to 15.

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr John Lee, chaired the fifth meeting of the fourth-term Commission on Poverty (CoP) held this afternoon (November 10).

     Members noted the implementation progress of various assistance programmes and the financial position of the Community Care Fund, as well as the evaluation report by the Home Affairs Department on the effectiveness of the Phase III Programme of Subsidy for Owners' Corporations of Old Buildings.

     In addition, the CoP approved the proposed annual indicative budgets for 2022-23 for the First Phase Programme of Medical Assistance Programmes ($1,397.55 million), the Subsidy for Eligible Patients to Purchase Ultra-expensive Drugs (Including Those for Treating Uncommon Disorders) programme ($289.8 million) and the Subsidy for Eligible Patients of the Hospital Authority to Purchase Specified Implantable Medical Devices for Interventional Procedures programme ($81.9 million).

     The CoP was also briefed on the poverty statistics and analysis for 2020 produced jointly by the Office of the Government Economist and the Census and Statistics Department. The CoP discussed the analysis and noted that the Government would publish the "Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2020" after the meeting. The Report has been uploaded to the CoP's dedicated website (www.povertyrelief.gov.hk).

    

     The Government released today (November 10) the "Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2020". The key analyses (see Annex) were presented to the Commission on Poverty (CoP) at its meeting held this afternoon.

     Adopting the analytical framework of the poverty line endorsed by the CoP, the Office of the Government Economist in collaboration with the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) updated and analysed the poverty statistics using data from the General Household Survey by the C&SD as the basis. This is the ninth annual update of the poverty situation analysis since the publication of the first official poverty line in 2013.

     The Report continues to adopt the poverty line analytical framework based on the concept of relative poverty as formulated by the CoP. The poverty line was set at 50 per cent of the median monthly household income before policy intervention (i.e. before taxation and social welfare transfers) by household size. Following the decision of the CoP last year, the presentation of the poverty line analysis in this Report was enhanced, whereby the core analysis was conducted based on the poverty statistics covering "the recurrent cash measures, non-recurrent cash measures and means-tested in-kind benefits" (i.e. all selected measures). In reality, households could concurrently benefit from various kinds of policy intervention measures, and hence the poverty alleviation impacts of these selected measures should be fully reflected under the poverty line analysis as far as possible. Members considered the enhanced presentation a more faithful portrayal of the real-life situation. Analyses on the pre-intervention (purely hypothetical assumption) scenario and the respective situations taking into account different categories of policy intervention measures are featured in the Report for supplementary reference. 

     The summary of the findings of the poverty situation in Hong Kong in 2020 is as follows:

• Affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Hong Kong economy experienced a severe recession in 2020. The labour market deteriorated sharply, characterised by a noticeably rising unemployment rate and decelerated overall wages growth. Compounded by the reductions in working hours or even job losses of members of many households, household income dropped significantly and grassroots families were particularly hard hit. Without timely policy intervention by the Government, a distinct deterioration in the poverty situation would have been highly likely in 2020.

• In response to this major challenge, the Government rolled out a series of non-recurrent measures in 2020 to stabilise the economy and relieve the pressures on the grassroots' livelihood. The Government's total commitment of various relief measures (including various countercyclical measures and the support measures under the Anti-epidemic Fund) implemented in response to the economic recession and the pandemic amounted to over $300 billion in 2020 alone, accounting for about 11 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

• After taking into account the policy intervention of all selected measures, the overall poor population and the poverty rate in 2020 were 553 500 persons and 7.9 per cent respectively, down markedly by 88 000 persons and 1.3 percentage points compared to the 2019 figures. 

• With the implementation of the Government's non-recurrent cash measures of an unprecedented scale and the continuous increase in recurrent expenditure related to people's livelihood, the poverty alleviation impact of all selected measures in 2020 was a record high, lifting 1 099 000 persons out of poverty and reducing the overall poverty rate by 15.7 percentage points. The poverty alleviation impact strengthened substantially by 3.5 percentage points over that of 2019. The effect of the Government's one-off measures to relieve the burden of the grassroots effectively suppressed the surge in the poverty rate that would have come about during the economic downturn.

• Mainly attributable to the Government's non-recurrent cash measures in 2020, such as the disbursement of $10,000 in cash and subsidies rendered to individuals or households under the Anti-epidemic Fund, the overall poverty alleviation impact of non-recurrent cash measures strengthened markedly. Recurrent and non-recurrent cash measures combined lifted 937 000 persons out of poverty, reducing the poverty rate by 13.4 percentage points, much higher than that of 8.3 percentage points in 2019. This fully demonstrates that while poverty alleviation might not be the main objective, these countercyclical non-recurrent measures helped to effectively alleviate the financial hardship of the grassroots under the pandemic while stabilising the economy. 

• As for recurrent cash measures only, the poverty alleviation impact in 2020 strengthened by 0.7 percentage points over that of 2019, lifting 441 700 persons out of poverty and reducing the overall poverty rate by 6.3 percentage points, which was the largest on record. Among various recurrent cash measures, the poverty alleviation impacts of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme and education benefits compared to those of 2019 both strengthened by 0.4 percentage points to 2.6 percentage points and 1.0 percentage point respectively, lifting 184 200 and 70 400 persons out of poverty respectively. The poverty alleviation impacts of both Old Age Living Allowance and Working Family Allowance compared to the 2019 impacts increased by 0.2 percentage points each to 2.4 percentage points and 0.8 percentage points respectively, lifting 164 700 and 53 400 persons out of poverty. 

• As regards means-tested in-kind benefits, the in-kind transfer of public rental housing (PRH) provision lifted 265 900 persons out of poverty in 2020, lowering the poverty rate by 3.8 percentage points. This demonstrates that PRH provision continued to play a pivotal role in poverty alleviation by addressing the housing needs of the grassroots. Its poverty alleviation impact was even higher than that of individual recurrent cash measures. 

• Without considering the various policy interventions above, the poverty indicators would record notable annual increases. In 2020, the pre-intervention (purely hypothetical assumption) poor population and the poverty rate stood at 1 652 500 and 23.6 per cent, which increased markedly by 161 900 persons and 2.2 percentage points compared to the 2019 figures, in stark contrast to the post-intervention (all selected measures) poverty situation. Nearly half of the increase in the pre-intervention (purely hypothetical assumption) poor population in 2020 was from unemployed households, and close to three-tenths from working households.

• Looking ahead, the poverty situation outlook hinges on the development of the pandemic across the globe and the pace of economic recovery in Hong Kong. If the Hong Kong community can provide widespread support to the implementation of the vaccination programme and the anti-epidemic measures, it would lay a solid foundation for the economy to swiftly return to the right track, and for the labour market to recover further. This would help bring relief to the local poverty situation as well, in particular the working poverty situation. But it should be noted that the performance of the post-intervention (all selected measures) poverty indicators might be affected by the expected scaling down of one-off measures after economic recovery.

     The Report has been uploaded to the CoP's dedicated website (www.povertyrelief.gov.hk).