The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority.

     Regarding an earlier announcement on a cluster of patients confirmed to be carriers of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) in a medical ward, the spokesperson for Tuen Mun Hospital gave the following update today (May 6):
 
     In accordance with the prevailing infection control guidelines, the hospital conducted contact tracing. One more 60-year-old female patient was found to be a VRE carrier without any symptoms of infection and with stable condition.
 
     The ward concerned has adopted the following enhanced infection control measures:

1. Enhanced hand hygiene and stringent contact precautions;
2. Enhanced attention to contamination-prone procedures; and
3. Enhanced disinfection and cleaning of the ward concerned.

     The hospital will continue the enhanced infection control measures and closely monitor the situation of the ward. The case has been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow-up.

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (May 6) addressed more than 200 participants from the business community in New Zealand during an online dialogue, in which she highlighted how Hong Kong's uniqueness under "One Country, Two Systems" makes it an ideal gateway for businesses and investment between Mainland China and New Zealand. The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, and the Commissioner for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), Mr Tommy Yuen, also joined the webinar.
 
     Mrs Lam said that Hong Kong has been enjoying close ties with New Zealand over the years, with New Zealand in 2010 becoming the first foreign economy to enter into a free trade agreement with Hong Kong, and pointed out that Hong Kong looks forward to strengthening such ties by joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Mrs Lam assured the participants that Hong Kong's future prospects are bright as the city's traditional strengths such as a free and open economy, the rule of law and judicial independence remain as robust as ever, and pointed out that the two National People's Congress Decisions on national security legislation and improvements to Hong Kong's electoral system are conducive to restoring stability. She emphasised that there are plenty of development opportunities for Hong Kong with the support of the Central Government as stated in the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and illustrated in the past two years since promulgation of the Outline Development Plan for the GBA. She said that, driven by strong recovery in trade and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government's continued investment, Hong Kong's economy in the first quarter of 2021 has rebounded strongly, recording year-on-year real growth of 7.8 per cent and an increase of 5.3 per cent over the preceding quarter. As the epidemic situation is easing in Hong Kong, she said it is now an opportune time for New Zealand enterprises to establish a presence in Hong Kong or expand their existing businesses in the city.
 
     Addressing questions from the audience on Hong Kong's potential in innovation and technology (I&T), Mrs Lam said that the current-term Government has invested more than $110 billion in the various aspects of I&T including infrastructure, research funding, nurturing of talents and venture capital, and the HKSAR Government is also pressing ahead with its collaboration with Shenzhen in the development of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park. She highlighted that Hong Kong is making good progress in fintech and health technology and welcomes businesses from New Zealand, including start-ups, to partner with Hong Kong to explore future development opportunities.
 
     In response to a question on travel restrictions owing to COVID-19, Mrs Lam said that she announced a new direction in fighting the pandemic last month with the aim of restoring the normal operation of society and people's daily lives as far as possible while keeping the epidemic situation effectively in check. She said that with the relatively stable epidemic situation in New Zealand, the compulsory quarantine period for persons arriving in Hong Kong from New Zealand has been reduced from 21 days to 14 days since last month. She expressed the hope that with the continued efforts of both places, facilitation of cross-border travel between the two places, such as through a travel bubble, can be further explored. 
 
     The webinar was organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Sydney, co-organised by Invest Hong Kong and supported by the Hong Kong New Zealand Business Association as well as the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Such events are part of the HKSAR Government's efforts in reaching out direct to overseas business communities. The Chief Executive has attended webinars with European Union and Japanese communities in recent months while other Principal Officials have also taken part in other similar events.  

  

     The Government yesterday (May 5) exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) to make a "restriction-testing declaration" effective from 12.10am yesterday, under which people (hereafter referred to as "persons subject to compulsory testing") within the specified "restricted area" in Southern District (i.e. Royalton, 118 Pok Fu Lam Road) were required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing. As at 1pm yesterday, around 110 persons subject to compulsory testing had collected combined nasal and throat swab samples at the temporary specimen collection stations set up in the "restricted area" to undergo a COVID-19 virus test. The exercise finished at around 6.15pm today (May 6). The test results of all persons subject to compulsory testing were negative. Taking into account the above situation, the Secretary for Food and Health revoked the "restriction-testing declaration" in accordance with Cap. 599J (see Annex).
      
     In this exercise, the Home Affairs Department (including the Southern District Office) and the Hong Kong Police Force mobilised around 120 staff to arrange for implementation of the declaration.
      
     The Government thanks all participating government staff and the testing agency for their hard work to arrange for implementation of the declaration within a very short period of time. The Government is also grateful to those subject to compulsory testing for their support and understanding, and their full co-operation during this period in undergoing testing.
      
     Moreover, the Government issued a compulsory testing notice yesterday, requiring persons who had been present at the above building for more than two hours from April 21 to May 4, 2021, even if they were not present in the "restricted area" at the time when the declaration took effect, to undergo compulsory testing on or before May 6. The Government reminds relevant persons to receive COVID-19 nucleic acid testing according to the compulsory testing notice.
      
     The Government will seriously follow up on the compliance situation of the compulsory testing notices and the "restriction-testing declaration" by persons subject to compulsory testing. Any person who fails to comply with the compulsory testing notices commits an offence and may be liable to a fixed penalty of $5,000. The person will 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 order or the "restriction-testing declaration" is an offence and the offender may be liable to a fine of level 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months.

     The Department of Health (DH) has put in place a pharmacovigilance system for COVID-19 immunisations, including receiving reports of Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFIs) related to the COVID-19 vaccines used in Hong Kong from healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical industries, and setting up the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation (Expert Committee) to provide independent assessments on the potential causal link between AEFIs and COVID-19 vaccinations. The main purpose of the pharmacovigilance system is to detect potential signals of possible side effects of the vaccines.
 
     According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an AEFI is any medical occurrence that follows an immunisation and that does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine. The Expert Committee conducts causality assessments based on the WHO algorithm for suspected serious adverse events.
 
     As of May 2, 2021, a total of 11,785 persons were infected with COVID-19, and 210 died of the disease in Hong Kong. Separately, there were about 1,491,900 doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered and a total of 2,402 AEFI reports (0.16 per cent of all doses administered) were reported. A total of 16 death reports (0.001 per cent of all doses administered) with a vaccination history within 14 days were received in the same period. The Expert Committee already concluded that four cases had no causal relationship with COVID-19 vaccinations, and the rest were preliminarily considered not associated with COVID-19 vaccinations.
 
     As of 4pm today (May 6), the DH has received one death case reported as a suspected serious adverse event with a history of COVID-19 vaccination within 14 days from the Hospital Authority (HA) in the past 24 hours (please refer to Annex). The report did not provide clinical evidence to support that the event was caused by the vaccine. The DH has contacted the HA upon receiving the report to obtain further information to facilitate a causality assessment. So far, there is no clinical evidence indicating that the event was caused by the vaccine. The HA will refer the case to the Coroner. Also, the DH will pass the case based on the established mechanism to the Expert Committee for conducting a causality assessment.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited relating to suspicious websites and Apps, which has been reported to the HKMA. A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website.
      
     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the websites or Apps concerned, should contact the bank using the contact information provided in the press release, and report the matter to the Police by contacting the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.