The Government will disburse a further subsidy to party rooms and local vessels let for hire or reward (pleasure vessels) under the Anti-epidemic Fund. Each eligible premises or vessel will be given a one-off subsidy of $4… read more
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (April 27) that applications for the Catering Business Subsidy Scheme (applicable to liquor licensed premises (with Bar Endorsement), karaoke establishments and nightclubs with restaurant licence) and the Further Subsidy to Commercial Bathhouse Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme under the fourth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund (AEF) will start from tomorrow (April 28) until May 27.
The Government had earlier on provided financial relief measures to businesses affected by the epidemic and the Government’s various anti-epidemic and social distancing measures through a number of schemes under various rounds of the AEF, including the Food Licence Holders Subsidy Scheme, the Subsidy Scheme for Tenants of Cooked Food/Light Refreshment Stalls at FEHD Markets, the Catering Business (Social Distancing) Subsidy Scheme, the Catering Business Subsidy Scheme; the Commercial Bathhouse Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme, the Places of Public Entertainment Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme and the Food Courts Subsidy Scheme. Hitherto, a total of about $12.8 billion in subsidies has been disbursed to eligible applicants.
Taking into account that bars/pubs, karaoke establishments, nightclubs and commercial bathhouses have been affected by the Government’s measures on progressively tightening the social distancing measures since last November and are required to remain closed until now, the Government intends to provide further subsidy to the above-mentioned businesses. The new round of Catering Business Subsidy Scheme will benefit licence/permit holders of liquor licensed premises (with Bar Endorsement), karaoke establishments and nightclubs with restaurant licence. They are eligible to a one-off subsidy ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 according to the licensed area of the restaurant premises if they have closed the whole of their premises for the entire period specified in the directions issued under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F).
To avoid abuse, an applicant at the time of application shall declare that the business is still in operation, and for an application lodged in respect of premises involving more than one licence/permit, the applicant has to be nominated by all licence/permit holders to apply for and receive the subsidy, and the FEHD will only issue one single subsidy in respect of the same licensed premises. It is estimated that the scheme will benefit about 1 100 bars/pubs, karaoke establishments and nightclubs, with the total amount of subsidy involved being approximately $250 million.
Separately, the Further Subsidy to Commercial Bathhouse Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme will provide a one-off subsidy of $100,000 to each eligible licence holder of a commercial bathhouse. It is estimated that around 50 commercial bathhouses will benefit from the subsidy.
The application form and guidelines for the new round of Catering Business Subsidy Scheme and the Commercial Bathhouse Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme can be obtained from the licensing offices or District Environmental Hygiene Offices of the FEHD, or downloaded from the website of the FEHD (www.fehd.gov.hk), where details of the scheme are also available. Eligible licence/permit holders should submit their applications to the corresponding licensing offices (for the Catering Business Subsidy Scheme) or District Environmental Hygiene Offices (for the Further Subsidy to Commercial Bathhouse Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme) of the FEHD in person or by mail. Upon receipt of the completed application form and supporting documents and after verification, the FEHD will disburse the subsidy in about two weeks by mailing crossed cheques to the corresponding premises. read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The spokesman for Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital (AHNH) made the following announcement today (April 27) regarding a patient walk-away incident:
A male patient with chronic illness was brought to the Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) at around 5am on April 24. The patient, accompanied by relatives, presented with fever, vomiting and fall injury. After examination, the patient was diagnosed with head injury and was arranged to have brain computed tomography and X-ray examination.
The patient was put at the patient waiting area awaiting for admission to medical ward after the examinations at around 6am. At around 6.45am, clinical staff had observed and arranged medication for the patient. The patient’s condition was stable, while his relatives had left the A&E earlier.
A&E staff discovered that the patient left the hospital without notifying the staff at around 7.15am. Security guards subsequently performed a full-scale search within the hospital compound, notified patient’s relative and reported to the Police for assistance. The Police was informed that the patient was located in a shopping mall at Tai Po and the patient was sent back to the A&E by ambulance. According to record, the patient’s condition was serious with resuscitation performed onboard the ambulance.
The patient arrived the A&E at 8.25am. The staff immediately performed resuscitation for the patient, and then admitted him to the medical ward for further management after resuming heartbeat and blood pressure. But the patient’s condition deteriorated and succumbed at around 2.36am on the following day.
The hospital expressed its deepest condolences and explained the sequence of events to the relatives. The hospital will continue to closely communicate with the relatives to provide necessary assistance. The incident has been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office through the Advance Incident Reporting System and referred to the Coroner for follow up. read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Alliance for Green Commercial Banks (the Alliance), co-launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, hosted the first roundtable, “CEO Talk: Opportunities for Green Bank Transformation”, online today (April 27). The roundtable attracted over 1 100 participants globally from Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.
The Alliance was jointly launched by the HKMA and the IFC in November 2020 to help banks develop the solutions needed to address climate change across emerging markets. As part of its knowledge sharing and capacity building efforts, the Alliance will be hosting a series of roundtable sessions on relevant topics, starting in April 2021. The roundtable sessions will equip participants with the basic knowledge related to green banking transition and will provide a platform for market participants across commercial banks, leading real sector companies, tech innovators, thought leaders, and regulators to share their first-hand experiences and intelligence.
The event started off with opening remarks from the Senior Vice President, Operations of the IFC, Ms Stephanie von Friedeburg; and a keynote address by the Chairman of the Green Finance Committee of the China Society for Finance and Banking, Dr Ma Jun.
The roundtable was moderated by the Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Eddie Yue. The session also featured the following speakers, including chief executives from commercial banks and thought leaders in green bank transformation:
In response to media enquiries, the Department of Health (DH) said that it had received updates from the Hospital Authority (HA) today (April 27) about two hospitalisation cases with a history of COVID-19 vaccination first repo… read more