The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     As at 9am today (May 19), four COVID-19 confirmed patients were discharged from hospital in the last 24 hours. So far, a total of 11 539 patients with confirmed or probable infection have been discharged.
      
     At present, there are 626 negative pressure rooms in public hospitals with 1 149 negative pressure beds activated. A total of 47 confirmed patients are currently hospitalised in 15 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, among which two patients are in critical condition, one is in serious condition and the remaining 44 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 case numbers of the discharged, critical and serious patients are as follows:
 

     â€‹In the preceding week till 11.59pm on May 16, the Department of Health (DH) received 237 reports (Note 1) of adverse events following COVID-19 immunisation, including one death case reported by the Hospital Authority (HA) involving individuals who had received COVID-19 vaccines.
      
     As at 8pm on May 16, about 1.96 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered for members of the public. Around 1.17 million people had received at least one dose of vaccine, accounting for 17.8 per cent of the population aged 16 or above. The DH received about 2 890 reports (Note 1) of adverse events (0.15 per cent of total vaccine doses administered), including 20 death cases with vaccinations within 14 days before they passed away (0.001 per cent of total vaccine doses administered).
      
     As at May 16, the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation (Expert Committee) (Note 2) concluded that seven death cases had no causal relationship with vaccinations, and preliminarily considered that 21 cases were not associated with vaccinations. Four cases were pending assessment. 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 by the HA, during the period from April 19 to May 16, the ratio of death cases out of those without a vaccination record was 53.9 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of death cases for those with a vaccination record was 3.0 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 2.7 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of death cases under the same category for those with a vaccination record was 0.4 cases for every 100 000 people. Furthermore, the ratio of miscarriage cases out of those without a vaccination record was 23.4 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of miscarriage cases for those who had a vaccination record was 3.6 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 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 at 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 Expert Committee convened a regular meeting on May 18 to assess the four death cases following COVID-19 immunisation during the period from May 3 to May 16.  The relevant details are at Annex.

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Note 1: Provisional figures
Note 2: The Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation perform continuous monitoring of the possible adverse events following administration of COVID-19 vaccines, and provide professional views and suggestions on safety monitoring of the authorised COVID-19 vaccines. The membership list and the key functions of the Expert Committee can be found at the following website (https://www.covidvaccine.gov.hk/en/expert).

     A Government spokesman expresses regret over a newspaper report today (May 19) alleging that the politically appointed officials (PAOs) would receive a pay rise this year, saying that the report is misleading and deliberately distorts the adjustment mechanism of the remuneration of the Chief Executive (CE) and PAOs in order to attack the officials of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government. 

     The spokesman said, "To show that the governing team is fighting the disease and riding out the difficult times with the public, the CE and all PAOs announced in February 2020 that they would donate one month's remuneration to the Community Chest of Hong Kong for charity purposes. The CE further announced on April 8, 2020 that she and the Chief Secretary for Administration, the Financial Secretary, the Secretary for Justice, 13 Directors of Bureaux and the Director of the CE's Office would take a 10 per cent pay cut for the coming 12 months to show togetherness with the people."

     "Subsequently, the CE announced on June 9 of the same year that the remuneration of the CE and all PAOs would not increase in accordance with the Consumer Price Index (C) under the established mechanism, in order to show solidarity with the community to tide over the difficult times."

     The spokesman explained that the estimated expenditure for the salaries of the CE, the Secretaries of Departments, the Directors of Bureaux and the Director of the CE's Office in 2021-22 is slightly higher than the revised estimates in 2020-21 because the voluntary pay cut of 10 per cent will end by the end of this June and that the estimated expenditure for the remaining nine months (i.e. July 2021 to March 2022) is calculated based on the level excluding pay cut factor.

     The remuneration of the CE and PAOs has all along been adjusted according to the established mechanism. The mechanism is in accordance with the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Remuneration Package and Post-office Arrangements for the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, and the Independent Commission on Remuneration for Members of the Executive Council and the Legislature, and Officials under the Political Appointment System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2005 and 2016 respectively, and was approved by the Legislative Council Finance Committee (LegCo FC) in the respective years of 2005 and 2017.

     The Home Affairs Department has opened 19 temporary night heat shelters for people in need of the service.
      
     The shelters will be open until 8am tomorrow.
      
     For further information, please call the department's hotline before midnight on 2572 8427.
      
     The 19 temporary night heat shelters are located at:
 
Hong Kong Districts:
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Central and Western –
Sai Ying Pun Community Complex Community Hall
3/F, Sai Ying Pun Community Complex
2 High Street, Sai Ying Pun
 
Eastern –
Causeway Bay Community Centre
3/F, 7 Fook Yum Road, Causeway Bay
 
Southern –
Wah Kwai Community Centre
Wah Kwai Estate, Kellett Bay 

Wan Chai –
Wan Chai Activities Centre
LG/F, Wan Chai Market, 258 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai
 
Kowloon Districts:
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Kowloon City –
Hung Hom Community Hall
1/F, Kowloon City Government Offices
42 Bailey Street, Hung Hom
 
Kwun Tong –
Lam Tin (West) Estate Community Centre
71 Kai Tin Road, Lam Tin
 
Sham Shui Po –
Shek Kip Mei Community Hall
G/F, Block 42, Shek Kip Mei Estate, Sham Shui Po
 
Wong Tai Sin –
Tsz Wan Shan (South) Estate Community Centre
45 Wan Wah Street, Tsz Wan Shan
 
Yau Tsim Mong –
Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre
60 Public Square Street, Yau Ma Tei
 
New Territories Districts:
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Islands –
Tung Chung North Park (Zone B) Activity Room
29 Man Tung Road, Tung Chung 

Kwai Tsing –
Kwai Shing Community Hall
Podium, Block 6, Kwai Shing West Estate, Kwai Chung
 
North –
Cheung Wah Community Hall
Cheung Wah Estate, Fanling
 
Sai Kung –
King Lam Neighbourhood Community Centre
King Lam Estate, Tseung Kwan O 

Sha Tin –
Lung Hang Estate Community Centre
Lung Hang Estate, Sha Tin 

Tai Po –
Tai Po Community Centre
2 Heung Sze Wui Street, Tai Po
 
Tsuen Wan –
Lei Muk Shue Community Hall
G/F, Hong Shue House, Lei Muk Shue Estate, Tsuen Wan

Tuen Mun –
Butterfly Bay Community Centre
Butterfly Estate (near Tip Sum House), Tuen Mun
 
Yuen Long –
Long Ping Community Hall
Long Ping Estate, Yuen Long
 
Yuen Long –
Tin Yiu Community Centre
Tin Yiu Estate, Tin Shui Wai
 
     The temporary night heat shelters will resume their functions as either community centres or community halls in the daytime for hire by the local community and cannot continue to be open as heat shelters. People may choose to take refuge from the heat during the daytime in the common areas in any of the 22 designated community centres or community halls. Their opening hours are from 9am to 10pm.  For the addresses of the community centres and community halls, please browse the following document: www.had.gov.hk/file_manager/en/documents/public_services/emergency_services/List_CH_CC_Day_E.pdf.

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (May 19) welcomed the Central People's Government's appointment of Mr Liu Guangyuan as the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

     Mrs Lam said that, with the support of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR (OCMFA), the HKSAR has been developing its external affairs in accordance with the Basic Law proactively since its establishment, including participating in international organisations and international conferences using the name "Hong Kong, China", and signing a number of bilateral or multilateral agreements with other economies. On numerous occasions in recent years when the HKSAR Government was subject to unfair attacks by some foreign government officials and politicians, the OCMFA strongly refuted them to set the record straight. The OCMFA has also been maintaining close contact with the HKSAR Government to render assistance to Hong Kong residents in distress abroad. Recently, the OCMFA has helped promote development of Hong Kong young people, including arranging HKSAR young civil servants to take up positions in the United Nations as Chinese personnel. Mrs Lam said that Liu Guangyuan is a veteran diplomat and strongly believed that under his leadership, the OCMFA will continue to work closely with the HKSAR Government to take forward various work.

     Mrs Lam also thanked the former Commissioner, Mr Xie Feng, for his contributions during his tenure and wished him every success in his new post.