The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     As at 9am today (April 19), four COVID-19 confirmed patients were discharged from hospital in the last 24 hours. So far, a total of 11 274 patients with confirmed or probable infection have been discharged.
 
     At present, there are 658 negative pressure rooms in public hospitals with 1 214 negative pressure beds activated. A total of 170 confirmed patients are currently hospitalised in 18 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, among which four patients are in critical condition, three are in serious condition and the remaining 163 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:
 

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 Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited relating to a fraudulent website and phishing instant messages, 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 website 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.

     The Education Bureau (EDB) issued a circular memorandum to all kindergartens as well as primary and secondary schools today (April 19), inviting them to encourage parents and students to participate in the Naming Competition for the Family Members of Our Ambassadors "Mommy Light" and "Daddy Light" organised by the EDB for promoting the Positive Parent Campaign.
      
     A spokesman for the EDB said, "The EDB launched the Positive Parent Campaign in June 2020 and announced in November that 'Mommy Light' and 'Daddy Light' were selected as the mascots for the Positive Parent Campaign, representing that positive parents nurture healthy and happy children."
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     The spokesman said that the competition aims to enable students and parents to know the ambassadors of the Positive Parent Campaign, "Mommy Light" and "Daddy Light" and their family members (please refer to the Annex), and understand that good parent-child relationships are important for children's development by participating in the activity. The two new family members will join hands with "Mommy Light" and "Daddy Light" to help promote the Positive Parent Campaign.
      
     The spokesman said that the competition will be held in two stages. Stage 1 will be the naming competition and students and parents are welcome to suggest creative names for the son and the daughter of "Mommy Light" and "Daddy Light". Ten pairs of names will be selected by a panel of adjudicators for the voting of "My Favourite Names" at Stage 2. The pair of names with the highest number of votes will be used as the names for the two new members.
      
     The winners of the 10 pairs of names selected by the panel of adjudicators at Stage 1 will each receive book coupons. The first three pairs of names with the highest numbers of votes at Stage 2 will be the champion, the first runner-up and the second runner-up of the competition, and each winner will be awarded a certificate and a souvenir. Interested students and parents can visit the event website (www.parent.edu.hk/article/ppc_naming) for the details of the competition and submission of entries online from today onwards. The deadline for Stage 1 of the naming competition is May 10. Online voting for Stage 2 will be open from May 24 to June 7.
      
     For the updates of activities and information of the Positive Parent Campaign, please visit the EDB's Smart Parent Net Website (www.parent.edu.hk). 

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

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (April 21) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, the Second Reading debate on the Appropriation Bill 2021 will resume and Members will speak on the Bill.

     Meanwhile, Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, all of which require written replies.

     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Members of the public can watch or listen to the meeting via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website. To observe the proceedings of the meeting at the LegCo Complex, members of the public may call 3919 3399 during office hours to reserve seats.

     Further to the external merchandise trade statistics in value terms for February 2021 released earlier on, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (April 19) the volume and price statistics of external merchandise trade for that month.
 
     As the trade flows in January and February of each year tend to show considerable volatilities due to differences in timing of the Lunar New Year holidays, it is useful to analyse the trade figures for these two months taken together. Comparing the first two months of 2021 with the same period in 2020, the volume of Hong Kong's total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 37.5% and 27.2% respectively.
 
     In February 2021, the volume of Hong Kong's total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 29.5% and 16.5% respectively over February 2020.
 
     Comparing the three-month period ending February 2021 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 17.9% and 14.9% respectively.
 
     Changes in volume of external merchandise trade are derived from changes in external merchandise trade value with the effect of price changes discounted.
 
     As regards price changes in the first two months of 2021 over the same period in 2020, the prices of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 0.1% and 0.6% respectively.
 
     Comparing February 2021 with February 2020, the prices of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 0.7% and 0.8% respectively.
 
     Price changes in external merchandise trade are reflected by changes in unit value indices of external merchandise trade, which are compiled based on average unit values or, for certain commodities, specific price data.
 
     The terms of trade index is derived from the ratio of price index of total exports of goods to that of imports of goods. Compared with the same periods in 2020, the index decreased by 0.1% in February 2021 and 0.6% in the first two months of 2021.

     Changes in the unit value and volume of total exports of goods by main destination are shown in Table 1.
 
     Comparing February 2021 with February 2020, double-digit increases were recorded for the total export volume to India (39.2%), the USA (36.4%), Japan (35.2%), the mainland of China (the Mainland) (30.0%) and Taiwan (23.9%).
 
     Over the same period of comparison, the total export prices to India (1.8%), the Mainland (1.6%) and Taiwan (1.2%) increased. On the other hand, the total export prices to Japan (-0.2%) and the USA (-1.2%) decreased.
 
     Changes in the unit value and volume of imports of goods by main supplier are shown in Table 2.
 
     Comparing February 2021 with February 2020, double-digit increases were recorded for the import volume from the Mainland (34.7%), Singapore (21.6%), Taiwan (19.9%) and Korea (15.4%). On the other hand, the import volume from Japan decreased by 8.9%.
 
     Over the same period of comparison, the import prices from Taiwan (5.2%), Korea (3.3%), Japan (0.4%) and Singapore (0.1%) increased. On the other hand, the import prices from the Mainland decreased by 0.6%.
 
Further information
 
     Details of the above statistics are published in the February 2021 issue of "Hong Kong Merchandise Trade Index Numbers".  Users can download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1020006&scode=230).
 
     Enquiries on merchandise trade indices may be directed to the Trade Analysis Section (1) of the C&SD (Tel.: 2582 4918).