The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (April 23) that in view of a notification from the Swedish Board of Agriculture about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in Eslöv Municipality of Skåne County in Sweden, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned area, as well as the Municipalities of Höör and Kävlinge of Skåne County near the affected area, with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 1 550 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Sweden last year.

     "The CFS has contacted the Swedish authorities over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the World Organisation for Animal Health and relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreak. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

    As at 9am today (April 23), nine COVID-19 confirmed patients were discharged from hospital in the last 24 hours. So far, a total of 11 325 patients with confirmed or probable infection have been discharged.

    At present, there are 653 negative pressure rooms in public hospitals with 1 196 negative pressure beds activated. A total of 154 confirmed patients are currently hospitalised in 16 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, among which three patients are in critical condition, two are in serious condition and the remaining 149 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.
 
     Details of the above-mentioned patients are as follows:
 

     In response to media reports alleging that an employee was interdicted from duty for declaration signing matters, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (April 23) issued the following clarification:
 
     The employee submitted three declarations in total, but irrelevant wording was written in the signature box each time. Taking into consideration various factors and the situation, the EPD interdicted the employee concerned under the Public Service (Administration) Order as he had failed to return a duly signed declaration by the stipulated deadline without reasonable explanation. The EPD noted that allowing the employee to continue discharging the duties and power of his position may go against the public's interest. The Administration is following up cases involving officers refusing to sign declarations in accordance with relevant regulations.
 
     The EPD issued an interdiction letter to the employee concerned at 9am on April 12 and read the content of the letter to him, clearly stating that he would not be allowed to enter the office area after packing and leaving the office with his personal belongings. The department gave him a whole day (from 9am to 5.20pm) to pack his personal belongings. He also noted that the department would arrange for the delivery of his unpacked personal belongings to his home. As he had too many personal belongings left unpacked, it took time for the department to follow-up.
 
     On April 21 morning, the employee appeared outside the office and requested to enter the office to get back his medicine. The staff of the EPD and the police officers on site advised him to provide the details of where his medicine was stored so as to help him retrieve the medicine. However, he refused.
 
     On April 22 morning, the employee tried to enter the office again, claiming that he needed to retrieve his residence key left in the office. The building security guard and the EPD staff offered to retrieve the key for him according to his instruction, but he refused.
 
     The EPD deeply regrets that someone deliberately confuses and misleads the public, making people think that the EPD has ignored the rights of the employee concerned.

     The Government announced today (April 23) that a government site comprising two portions on Hoi Fan Road in Tai Kok Tsui will be granted to the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (OSNS) for its permanent office premises and ancillary facilities.
 
     The Site measures about 11 500 square metres in total and falls within areas zoned "Government, Institution or Community" on the South West Kowloon Outline Zoning Plan. The setting up of the OSNS' office premises and ancillary facilities is a use always permitted under that zoning. A location plan of the Site is in the Annex.
 
     The OSNS was established in July 2020 in accordance with Article 48 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the National Security Law). Article 61 of the National Security Law also stipulates that the relevant departments of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall provide necessary facilitation and support to the OSNS in performing its mandate in accordance with the National Security Law. The OSNS will carry out the construction in accordance with the National Security Law and relevant laws and regulations in Hong Kong. The OSNS will bear the required costs.

     The latest shipment of about 580 000 doses of the Comirnaty vaccine, manufactured by BioNTech and filled and finished at another plant (Baxter) in Germany, arrived in Hong Kong this afternoon (April 23) as arranged by Fosun Pharma.

     Soon after the arrival of the latest batch of the Comirnaty vaccine in Hong Kong, staff carried out stringent checking and inspection of the vaccine in accordance with established procedures to ensure that it complies with the product specifications and that the transportation process follows the relevant cold-chain requirements. The Government will put the vaccine in validated ultra-low temperature freezers to ensure its proper storage in accordance with the temperature specified by the drug manufacturer.

     The labels of these vaccine vials contain English and simplified Chinese. The vaccines concerned were manufactured by the same manufacturer and filled and finished at the same plant with the same specifications in Germany.