The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (June 4) investigating two suspected food poisoning clusters affecting nine persons, and reminded the public to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene to prevent food-borne diseases.
     
     The first cluster involved two males and five females, aged 22 to 64, who developed abdominal pain, diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting about three and a quarter hours after having dinner at a restaurant in Tai Wai yesterday (June 3).
      
     The other cluster involved two females aged 44 and 45, who developed similar symptoms about half an hour after having dinner at the same restaurant on the same day.

     Seven of the affected persons sought medical advice and three required hospitalisation. They are in stable condition.

     "We have alerted the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to the incident and investigations are ongoing," a spokesman for the CHP said.

     To prevent food-borne diseases, members of the public are reminded to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene at all times. When dining out:
 
• Patronise only reliable and licensed restaurants;
• Avoid eating raw seafood;
• Be a discerning consumer in choosing cold dishes, including sashimi, sushi and raw oysters, at a buffet;
• Ensure food is thoroughly cooked before eating during a hot pot or barbecue meal;
• Handle raw and cooked foods carefully and separate them completely during the cooking process;
• Use two sets of chopsticks and utensils to handle raw and cooked food;
• Do not patronise illegal food hawkers;
• Drink boiled water;
• Do not try to use salt, vinegar, wine and wasabi to kill bacteria as they are not effective; and
• Always wash hands before eating and after going to the toilet.

The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:

     The Right Honourable the Baroness Brenda Hale of Richmond (Baroness Hale) has indicated to the Judiciary that for personal reasons, she would not wish to have her appointment as a non-permanent judge from another common law jurisdiction of the Court of Final Appeal extended for another term upon the expiry of her current one on July 29, 2021.

     Under Article 92 of the Basic Law, judges and other members of the Judiciary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) shall be chosen on the basis of their judicial and professional qualities and may be recruited from other common law jurisdictions. The presence of non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions allows Hong Kong to maintain links with other common law jurisdictions. Their immense contribution to Hong Kong has repeatedly been acknowledged.

     Currently, there are 13 judges from other common law jurisdictions, comprising nine from the United Kingdom, three from Australia and one from Canada. The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance stipulates that there shall be a list of non-permanent Hong Kong judges and a list of judges from other common law jurisdictions. The total number of persons holding office as non-permanent judges shall not at any time exceed 30. If there are suitable candidates, the Judiciary will continue to deal with the appointment recommendations in accordance with the relevant provisions and established mechanism under the Basic Law and the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission Ordinance.

     As prescribed in the Basic Law, the HKSAR has been authorised by the National People's Congress to exercise independent judicial power, including the power of final adjudication. It is also stated in express terms that the courts of the HKSAR shall exercise judicial power independently, free from any interference. As reflected in their judicial oath, in exercising their judicial power, judges are constitutionally required to determine and handle cases strictly in accordance with the law and legal principles.

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (June 3) seized a batch of suspected smuggled jewels, including about 1 300 diamonds, 10 sapphires, one emerald and about 30 grams of point-size diamonds, with an estimated market value of about $25 million in total at Sha Tau Kok Control Point. This is the largest diamond smuggling case detected by Customs on record in terms of the market value of the diamonds seized.

     Customs officers yesterday intercepted an outgoing light goods vehicle at Sha Tau Kok Control Point for inspection. The batch of suspected smuggled jewels was found mingled with 17 pieces of manifested gold slabs inside two backpacks in the cargo compartment. The 47-year-old male driver was then arrested.

     Investigation is ongoing.

     Customs will continue to take stringent enforcement action against cross-boundary smuggling activities through risk assessment and intelligence analysis.

     Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     â€‹Details of the meetings of the Legislative Council (LegCo) and its Committees to be held in the LegCo Complex during the week from June 7 to 11 are available in the meeting schedule attached.
 
     The information in the meeting schedule is subject to change. Please refer to the LegCo Calendar on the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk) for the latest details of meetings.
 
     Members of the public can watch or listen to the meetings via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website. To observe the proceedings of the meetings at the LegCo Complex, members of the public may call 3919 3399 during office hours to reserve seats.

     Hong Kong Customs detected three drug trafficking cases through the air cargo channel between November last year and June this year. A total of about 11 kilograms of suspected cocaine and about 685 grams of suspected heroin with an estimated market value of about $16.2 million were seized at Tsing Yi and Hong Kong International Airport. A man suspected to be connected with the cases was arrested yesterday (June 3).

     Customs officers inspected an air parcel that was destined for Taiwan from Hong Kong on November 19 last year and found about 325g of suspected heroin concealed inside 13 sheets of laminated paper.

     Also, Customs officers inspected an air postal packet that had arrived in Hong Kong from Cambodia on January 22 this year and found about 360g of suspected heroin concealed inside the false compartment of a suitcase. About 11kg of suspected cocaine mixed with 15 candles were then found inside an air postal packet arriving in Hong Kong from Brazil on June 1.

     Upon follow-up investigation, Customs officers yesterday arrested a 20-year-old man in Kwun Tong suspected to be in connection with the three above-mentioned cases.

     Investigation is ongoing.

     Customs reminds members of the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong. They are also reminded not to carry unknown items for other people, nor to release their personal data or home address to others for receiving parcels or goods.

     Customs will continue to maintain close contact with Hongkong Post and the logistics industries to step up action against drug trafficking through postal parcel or express courier channels.

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).