Tag Archives: China

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The spokesperson for Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) made the following announcement today (June 4) concerning a patient who tested preliminarily positive for COVID-19:
 
     A 17-year-old female patient attended Tin Shui Wai (Tin Yip Road) Community Health Centre (the clinic) on June 3 due to fever, sore throat and cough. A deep throat saliva test for COVID-19 was arranged for the patient. She was tested positive for COVID-19. The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) later notified that the patient’s infection involved mutant strain. The patient was admitted to the isolation ward of TMH for further treatment and is currently in stable condition.
 
     The clinic conducted contact tracing in accordance with the prevailing infection control guidelines. All staff members working in the clinic concerned were equipped with appropriate personal protective equipment in accordance with the guidelines. No aerosol generating procedures had been performed during that period. Considering that a doctor had examined the patient’s throat during consultation, the doctor was classified as close contact and will be quarantined for the sake of prudence. 
 
     The hospital has conducted thorough cleaning and disinfection of the clinic concerned. TMH will continue to closely monitor the health of the patient and communicate with the CHP on the latest situation. read more

     At around 8pm today (June 4), a large group of protesters gathered along Paterson Street and Kingston Street in Causeway Bay and Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok respectively. Some of them who chanted slogans suspected of inciting or abetting others to commit acts of secession, which might constitute relevant offences under the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the National Security Law).  Police had issued warnings to the crowd, categorically pointing out that they might have violated the National Security Law and the Public Order Ordinance. Police warn all protesters to stop their unlawful acts, as Police will take strict enforcement action.
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     The Labour Department (LD) is highly concerned about a fatal work accident that happened in Fo Tan, Shatin this morning (June 4), in which a male worker was suspected to have fallen from height onto the carpark on 2/F while erecting a truss-out bamboo scaffold at the external wall of a building. He was certified dead later in the hospital. The LD is saddened by the death of the victim and expresses its deepest sympathy to his family.

     The LD’s spokesman said, “We commenced an immediate on-site investigation as soon as we were notified of the accident and issued suspension notices to the contractors involved, suspending the erection, alteration, dismantling and use of truss-out bamboo scaffold at the external wall of the building. The contractors cannot resume the work process until the LD is satisfied that measures to abate the relevant risk have been taken.”

     The spokesman added, “We will complete investigation as soon as possible to identify the cause of the accident, ascertain the liability of the duty holders and recommend improvement measures. We will take actions pursuant to the law if there is any violation of the work safety legislation.”

     The general duty provisions of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance require employers to provide safe working environments, plant and safe systems of work for their employees. Those who contravene the above provisions are liable to a maximum fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for six months.       

     In regard to today’s accident, the LD will issue a Work Safety Alert through its website and email, giving a brief account of the accident concerned to duty holders, workers’ unions, professional bodies of safety practitioners and others, reminding the industry of the importance of following safety precautionary measures to prevent a recurrence of similar accidents.       

     The LD will also remind the employer concerned of the liability for employees’ compensation under the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance, assist family members of the deceased to claim employees’ compensation and closely follow up on the case.    

     For the sake of securing the safety and health of employees at work, the LD appeals to employers to provide plant and systems of work that are safe and without risks to health. Employees should co-operate with their employers, adopt all safety measures and use personal protective equipment provided properly to avoid endangering their own work safety and that of other workers. read more

     The Government today (June 4) 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 8pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as “persons subject to compulsory testing”) within the specified “restricted area” in Tin Shui Wai (i.e. Shing Yu House, Block P, Tin Shing Court, 3 Tin Ching Street, Tin Shui Wai; 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 7am tomorrow (June 5).

     A Government spokesman said, “Under Cap. 599J, the Government can, according to the needs of infection control, make a ‘restriction-testing declaration’. As a preliminary positive case with an unknown source was detected in Shing Yu House, Block P, Tin Shing Court today and the preliminary test result involved a mutant strain, the risk of infection in the relevant area is assessed to be likely higher, so the Government decided to make a ‘restriction-testing declaration’ for the relevant area after the test result was found positive.”

     The Government will set up temporary specimen collection stations at the “restricted area” and request persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo testing before 2am tomorrow. Persons subject to compulsory testing will be arranged to undergo nucleic acid testing 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 door-to-door specimen collection for people with impaired mobility and elderly persons.

     “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 7am 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.

     Persons in the “restricted area” who have undergone testing from June 2 to 4, 2021, and are able to provide the SMS notification through a mobile phone or related certification containing the test results, are not required to take the test again. However, they are required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the area have undergone testing and the test results are mostly ascertained. Also, according to the compulsory testing notice issued today, any person who had been present at the above building for more than two hours from May 15 to June 4, 2021, 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 June 6. In addition, in accordance with the latest arrangement, persons residing in the same building as a confirmed local case with mutant strain are subject to compulsory testing on Days 3, 7, 12 and 19 counting from the day on which the confirmed case is announced.

     If there are candidates in the “restricted area” who need to sit for the public examinations the following day but have not undergone testing from June 2 to 4, 2021, or are not able to provide the SMS notification through a mobile phone or related certification containing the test results, the Government advises candidates to go to the temporary specimen collection stations at the “restricted area” as soon as possible and identify themselves as candidates sitting for public examinations and submit relevant documents (including admission forms) for proof. The candidates will be given priority testing with a view to enabling them to obtain test results as early as possible.
          
     The candidates concerned should go to the temporary specimen collection stations in the “restricted area” with their identity document and admission form as soon as possible for priority testing. It is the candidate’s responsibility to follow the testing process and go to the temporary specimen collection stations as soon as possible for the test. Otherwise, the officers will not be able to prioritise the testing of samples collected late.
          
     If a candidate needs to leave the “restricted area” for the exam centre before the declaration is revoked, he/she can make a request to the prescribed officers in the “restricted area”, regardless of whether the test result has been obtained or not. The prescribed officer may allow the candidate to leave the “restricted area” after verifying that the candidate has undergone testing as required and recording the relevant information of the candidate. Candidates who receive a negative test result on their way to the exam centres will be allowed to sit the exam as scheduled. For the safety of all candidates, only those candidates who have obtained negative results in the nucleic acid test will be allowed by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority to enter the examination hall.
          
     The Home Affairs Department has set up a hotline (Tel: 2835 1473) which will start operation at 8pm 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 $5,000. 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 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months. read more

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (June 4) said that it is investigating a preliminary local case of COVID-19 with the preliminary test result involving N501Y mutant strain. 

     The case involves a 17 years old female patient who lives at Shing Yu House, Tin Shing Court in Tin Shui Wai. She developed symptoms including fever, runny nose, headache and loss of smell on June 2 and attended Tin Shui Wai (Tin Yip Road) Community Health Centre on June 3 where she submitted deep throat saliva for testing on the same day. The sample tested preliminary positive. The positive result was confirmed by the Public Health Laboratory Service Branch of the DH which also found that the sample carried the N501Y mutant strain (but it is negative to E484K and L452R strains).

     The patient studies at Queen Elizabeth School Old Students’ Association Tong Kwok Wah Secondary School at 57 Tin Wah Road, Tin Shui Wai and attends tutorial class at Tak Wing Industrial Building at 3 Tsun Wen Road, Tuen Mun. On May 29, she visited the Hong Kong International Education Expo, held at Hall 1C of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai. As the patient has not used the LeaveHomeSafe application, the CHP will broadcast messages to visitors of the same venues visited by the patient according to the itinerary provided by the patient.   

     As N501Y mutant strains carry higher transmissibility, the CHP has to carry out prudent measures on infection control, so as to stop the potential risk of spreading the virus. The CHP will arrange quarantine for 21 days for the patient’s household contacts and people identified as close contacts. The Government will make a restriction-testing declaration towards Shing Yu House, Tin Shing Court in Tin Shui Wai. Residents of the building would be subject to compulsory testing on Days 3, 7, 12 and 19 counting from the day on which the case is confirmed. 

     Moreover, the school attended by the patient and the places she had stayed during the incubation period will be included in a compulsory testing notice. People who had been present at the above venues at specified periods need to undergo compulsory testing on or before June 6, 2021.

     The CHP’s investigation reveals that the patient and her household members have not received COVID-19 vaccination.  Epidemiological investigation and contract tracing of the case will continue. read more