Tag Archives: China

     Following is a question by the Hon Mrs Regina Ip and a reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (June 23):
 
Question:
 
     It is learnt that since the end of last month, the Chief Secretary for Administration has been exempting, under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, those persons who have completed a coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination course and belong to the following categories from compulsory quarantine when entering Hong Kong: senior personnel of institutions in the banking sector, insurance sector and securities and futures sector as well as locally listed companies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the latest update on the implementation of the aforesaid quarantine exemption arrangement, including the respective up-to-date numbers of applications received and approved; and
 
(2) whether it will extend the scope of the exemption arrangement to include senior personnel from other industries and major multinational enterprises; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     My response to the two parts of the question raised by the Hon Mrs Ip, in consultation with other relevant bureaux, is as follows:
 
(1) Hong Kong, as an international financial centre, houses a large number of multinational and regional financial institutions. Many financial institutions in Hong Kong are a key part of their mainland, regional or global setup. The quarantine requirements imposed on movement of people during the pandemic have put the operations of many financial institutions to inconvenience, hindering the functioning of some of their headquarters. Considering that the pandemic will linger for a while, it is necessary to suitably facilitate senior executives in the industry to enter or re-enter Hong Kong with controlled risk, in order to maintain Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre and resume economic activities as soon as possible.
 
     In this connection, under the principle of risk-based, strict control and careful monitoring, the Government and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Insurance Authority (IA), in consultation with the health authorities, have agreed to designate qualified persons in financial services sectors to be exempted from the compulsory quarantine arrangements under the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C) (the Regulation) and the Compulsory Quarantine of Persons Arriving at Hong Kong from Foreign Places Regulation (Cap. 599E). Nevertheless, those who have stayed at extremely or very high risk places would not be given any exemption. Qualified persons in financial services sectors would only be given exemption subject to the following key conditions and requirements of exemption:
 
1. An applicant for exemption must have completed a COVID-19 vaccination course on or before the 14th day prior to his/her arrival at Hong Kong;
 
2. An applicant for exemption should be hired by a financial institution or an associated financial institution under the direct regulation of the three financial regulators, i.e. the HKMA, the SFC and the IA;
 
3. Each qualified financial institution can only submit applications for a maximum of two Hong Kong-based persons and two visiting persons in each month;
 
4. An application must be signed and submitted by the senior management of the relevant financial institution. An exempted person should be a senior executive with international or regional role at the institution, and travel primarily for the purpose of managing the group institution that they are held responsible for;
 
5. Depending on the risk level of the place where the exempted person has stayed before he/she arrives at Hong Kong, exempted persons will be required to self-isolate in designated quarantine hotels or at home. During the period, exempted person will only be allowed to conduct essential business activities according to the submitted itinerary by using point-to-point transportation. Meals with other persons or social activities would not be allowed;
 
6. An exempted person must conduct multiple COVID testing in accordance with the prevailing requirements before the departure, upon his/her arrival at Hong Kong and during the period in which he/she remains in Hong Kong; and
 
7. The compliance department of the applying institution must submit periodic attestations to the relevant regulator on the compliance of the exemption conditions by the exempted person.
 
     For listed companies, we have, under the Regulation, exempted (i) Directors of the companies listed on Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) or directors of companies applying for listing on SEHK who are on duty travel to and from the Mainland to attend statutory meetings (such as Annual General Meetings and listing hearings as stipulated by the Listing Rules), and (ii) Directors or executives of the some 500 companies listed on the SEHK that are included in the major indexes who travel to and from the Mainland for essential business activities from the compulsory quarantine requirement since May and June respectively last year. These arrangements are now expanded to cover persons meeting the same eligibility requirements to travel to and from other places. The conditions and requirements of exemption for these persons under the expanded arrangements are on par with those applied to the abovementioned exempted financial practitioners.
 
     As of June 22, 2021, financial regulators and the SEHK have received 151 applications under the quarantine exemption arrangement mentioned above, among which two have been approved and 105 have been rejected or withdrawn. The remaining applications are under processing.
 
     The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and financial regulators will closely monitor the implementation of the arrangement and review the detailed arrangement in accordance with the directives given by the health authorities from time to time. As per proposed advice on adjustment of quarantine arrangement in the light of the inclusion of serology test from the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases under the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health in association with the Chief Executive’s expert advisory panel released on June 9, the Government announced on June 21 that the adjusted quarantine arrangement for inbound travellers is being actively followed up. The duration of compulsory quarantine for inbound travellers who have stayed at medium to high-risk places could be shortened provided that they are fully vaccinated and tested positive in serology test. Accordingly, we have included antibody test in the quarantine exemption arrangement for qualified persons in financial services sectors and of listed companies as an additional requirement. The self-isolation period of exempted persons who are tested positive in antibody tests can be reduced to seven days.
 
(2) We consider that the above exemption arrangements are made under the principle of risk-based, strict control and careful monitoring, especially in that only financial institutions or listed companies under direct regulation of financial regulators and SEHK may submit applications, and that financial regulators and SEHK will monitor compliance by exempted persons. The Government would draw on their experience in considering whether other relevant arrangements should be put in place in future.
 
     Thank you President. read more

     A 47-year-old woman was sentenced to immediate imprisonment for 10 days by the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts today (June 23) for violating the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C) (the Regulation).

     The woman was earlier issued a compulsory quarantine order stating that she must conduct quarantine at home for 14 days. Before the expiry of the quarantine order, she left the place of quarantine on April 7, 2021, without reasonable excuse nor permission given by an authorised officer. She was charged with contravening sections 8(1) and 8(5) of the Regulation and was sentenced by the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts today to immediate imprisonment for 10 days. 

     Breaching a quarantine order is a criminal offence and offenders are subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months. A spokesman for the Department of Health said the sentence sends a clear message to the community that breaching a compulsory quarantine order is a criminal offence that the Government will not tolerate, and solemnly reminded the public to comply with the regulations. As of today, a total of 145 persons have been convicted by the courts for breaching compulsory quarantine orders and have received sentences including immediate imprisonment for up to 14 weeks or a fine of up to $15,000. The spokesman reiterated that resolute actions will be taken against anyone who has breached the relevant regulations. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Martin Liao and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (June 23):
 
Question:
 
     According to the definition of the World Health Organisation, palliative care aims to provide assessment and treatment services to patients with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions to prevent and relieve suffering of patients, thereby improving the quality of life for them and their family members. Some patient groups have pointed out that paediatric palliative care services are currently provided by the paediatric departments in various public hospitals instead of allied health teams, which is not conducive to the enhancement of service quality and the accumulation and passing on of the relevant experience by healthcare personnel. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows the number of children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions who received palliative care at public hospitals in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by the type of diseases they suffered from (e.g. cancers, neurological disorders and respiratory diseases) and by the type of services provided to them;
 
(2) as the Hospital Authority (HA) indicated in 2018 that the Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, upon commissioning, would set up a centrally coordinated paediatric palliative care team comprising multidisciplinary professionals responsible for coordinating territory-wide paediatric palliative care services, whether it knows the progress of the relevant work, and if the HA has formulated key performance indicators for the work of the team; if the HA has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(3) in respect of the training on paediatric palliative care services provided by the HA to healthcare personnel, whether it knows if the HA (i) reviewed the effectiveness of such training and (ii) enriched the training contents, in the past two years, with a view to enhancing service quality; if the HA did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(4) whether it has considered strengthening, at the community level through District Health Centres and primary care providers, the support provided to children who are receiving palliative care; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     My reply to the various parts of the question raised by Hon Martin Liao is as follows:
 
(1) As the Hospital Authority (HA) generally looks after children suffering from life-limiting illnesses through the respective paediatric sub-specialty teams, and delivers various levels of palliative care through multi-disciplinary service teams according to needs of patients, the HA’s medical system does not have a specific diagnosis code for children with life-limiting conditions receiving paediatric palliative care in public hospitals. The HA hence does not maintain figures in this regard.
 
(2) The HA has established a dedicated multi-disciplinary paediatric palliative care team in the Hong Kong Children’s Hospital (HKCH) to provide more comprehensive, timely and well-coordinated service to children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and their families. The team has been operating since March 2019, with members including paediatricians, nurses and medical social workers. The team also provides service in collaboration with allied health professionals (including occupational therapists, physiotherapists, clinical psychologists and dietitians etc.) and members of spiritual care teams of different religions and faith.
 
     Under the current operation, doctors in the clinical team would refer suitable patients to the paediatric palliative care team for follow-up simultaneously. Taking into account the current condition and wishes of the patients and their families, the team would tailor-make a personalised service that provides holistic care to addresses their physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs and improve their quality of life. The scope of services includes advance care planning discussion, co‑ordination of complicated care process, symptom relief, emotional support, home visits, telephone hotline, end-of-life care and bereavement counselling etc. The team would also refer patients to suitable non-governmental organisations and liaise with schools to enhance community support.
      
     The paediatric palliative care team is commencing services in phases. At present, it mainly supports families of paediatric patients of haematology and oncology, cardiology, and nephrology at HKCH. Up to now, the team has served more than 140 families, and provided more than 5 300 consultations (including inpatient medical consultations, specialist outpatient clinic attendances and home visits). The team will gradually expand its services as planned. The ultimate goal is to co-ordinate territory-wide paediatric palliative care services in the HA, and align treatment protocols and referral guidelines to ensure service quality and continuity in the paediatric service network.
 
(3) The paediatric palliative care team of HKCH would provide training to their clinical staff, including case studies, lectures, and clinical applications etc., to enhance their knowledge of palliative care so as to better attend to patients’ needs.
 
     All paediatric trainees joining the higher training programme of the Hong Kong College of Paediatricians since July 2020 must complete a training module on paediatric palliative care before fellowship. In addition, the Hong Kong College of Paediatric Nursing also offers paediatric palliative care courses.
 
(4) In a bid to shift the emphasis of the present healthcare system and mindset from treatment-oriented to prevention-focused, the Food and Health Bureau is now setting up District Health Centres (“DHCs”) in all 18 districts across the territory. Through DHCs, the Government aims to encourage members of the public to be health conscious and take precautionary measures through early identification of health problems with an aim of enhancing their capability in self-management of health and chronic disease. In accordance with the advice from the Steering Committee on Primary Healthcare Development (Steering Committee), resources for DHCs are currently focused towards tackling the most prevalent chronic diseases and health risk factors that consume substantial medical resources.
 
     Meanwhile, DHCs are also positioned as a district hub for connecting various public and private primary healthcare services (including paediatric palliative care and related support services) and non-governmental organisations in the community. Free consultation and counselling services are provided to the public by healthcare professionals in DHCs, such as nurses, social workers, pharmacists, etc. They also strive to connect service providers in the district in a co-ordinated manner and make referral for members of the public in need when necessary.  
      
     We will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of DHCs services by evidence-based approach and consider to further expand the provision of other primary healthcare services through DHCs under the guidance of the Steering Committee. read more

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Chiang Lai-wan and a reply by the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, in the Legislative Council today (June 23):  Question:      In order to encourage develope… read more

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) announced today (June 23) that the 2021 Population Census commenced today.        The Census is being conducted in two phases. During the first phase betwee… read more