The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) launched the Chinese version of an e-book titled "A Tour of Tropical Cyclones" today (June 10), to deepen children's understanding of tropical cyclones and to raise their awareness of disaster preparedness and response. The HKO plans to launch the English version of the e-book later this year.
      
     Contents of the e-book include the classification and naming of tropical cyclones, information on local historical typhoons, the meaning of warning signals, storm structure, methods of monitoring and forecasting tropical cyclones, as well as the associated hazards and precautionary measures. In addition to multimedia information, the e-book is also linked to relevant online educational resources and "Cool Met Stuff" videos of the HKO. The infographics in the e-book were jointly designed by the HKO and its former intern for the first time. While the e-book's main target audiences are children, its contents are also suitable for other readers.
      
     The desktop and mobile versions of the Chinese version of the e-book are now available. Members of the public may browse the e-book at the "Educational Resources" page (www.hko.gov.hk/en/education/edu.htm) and the "Tropical Cyclone" page (www.hko.gov.hk/en/informtc/tcMain.htm) of the HKO's website; or the "Educational Resources" section of the mobile application "MyObservatory".

     The Governments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Singapore will review in early July the target date of inaugural flights under the Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble (ATB), taking into account the latest development of the COVID-19 epidemic situation in Singapore, which has been stabilising since early June. An announcement on the way forward would be made in early July.

     A spokesman for the HKSAR Government said today (June 10) that subsequent to the announcement on May 17 about deferral of the inaugural flights under the ATB, the two governments have been closely monitoring the epidemic situation in both places, including the effectiveness of the anti-epidemic measures implemented by the Singapore Government in response to the latest epidemic development. The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, has been in regular dialogue with the Minister for Transport of the Republic of Singapore, Mr S Iswaran. Both consider that it is prudent to keep the developments under review to ensure the epidemic situation is sufficiently stable before deciding in early July on the way forward for the ATB.

     The spokesman stressed that both governments remain strongly committed to launching the ATB with a view to resuming air travel between the two regional aviation hubs and international cities in a gradual and orderly manner under a set of stringent public health protocols.

     Travellers who wish to travel between the two places via the ATB arrangement should watch out for the latest announcements and adjust their itineraries according to their own circumstances.

     For details of the ATB, please refer to the designated website: www.tourism.gov.hk/travelbubble.

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Thursday, June 10, 2021 is 100.1 (down 0.3 against yesterday's index).

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     As at 9am today (June 10), three COVID-19 confirmed patients (case numbers: 11832, 11863, 11866) were discharged from hospital in the last 24 hours. So far, a total of 11 590 patients with confirmed or probable infection have been discharged.
 
     At present, there are 603 negative pressure rooms in public hospitals with 1 120 negative pressure beds activated. A total of 42 confirmed patients are currently hospitalised in 13 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, among which one patient (case number: 6794) is in critical condition, one (case number: 9907) is in serious condition and the remaining 40 patients are in stable condition.
 
     The Hospital Authority will maintain close contact with the Centre for Health Protection to monitor the latest developments and to inform the public and healthcare workers on the latest information in a timely manner.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (June 10) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Ngwathe Local Municipality and Nala Local Municipality of Free State Province in South Africa, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that Hong Kong currently has an established protocol with South Africa for the import of poultry meat but not for poultry eggs. According to the Census and Statistics Department, no poultry meat was imported from South Africa in the first three months of this year.

     "The CFS has contacted the South African 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.