Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:
Yellow fire danger warning
The fire danger situation today (April 11) is yellow and the risk of fire is high. People are urged to prevent fires breaking out and hikers should also be vigilant.
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The spokesperson for Tuen Mun Hospital made the following announcement today (April 10) concerning a temporary suspension of negative pressure system of an isolation ward:
At 6.45pm today, fire alarm of an isolation ward was activated. According to default system setting, air conditioning and negative pressure system was suspended immediately. Inspection by the fireman confirmed that there was no fire. The system resumed normal at 7.06pm.
After the incident, all ward staff had put on N95 respirator immediately according to established practice. There were 12 patients staying in the ward, including a COVID-19 patient who was staying in a single isolation room. There was no patient movement nor aerosol generating procedures performed during that period. The incident did not pose any risk of infection. TMH is investigating the cause of the incident.​
​Hong Kong Customs yesterday (April 9) conducted an anti-illicit cigarette operation in Fo Tan and San Tin. About 21 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $58 million and a duty potential of about $40 million were seized.
Customs officers smashed a suspected illicit cigarette storehouse in Fo Tan yesterday afternoon and seized about 9.6 million suspected illicit cigarettes. Two men moving the carton boxes of illicit cigarettes were arrested and a lorry suspected to be connected with the case has been detained.
Customs officers also detected a suspected illicit cigarette smuggling case in San Tin in the evening on the same day. About 11 million suspected illicit cigarettes were seized in a 40-foot container inside a fenced land. Four men in the site were arrested.
During the operation, Customs officers arrested six men aged between 23 and 72.
Investigation is ongoing. Customs will continue to trace the source and the flow of the illicit cigarettes. The likelihood of further arrests is not ruled out.
Customs has so far this year seized about 120 million suspected illicit cigarettes, which has reached 60 per cent of last year's total seizure amount.
Customs will continue its risk assessment and intelligence analysis for interception at source as well as through its multi-pronged enforcement strategy targeting storage, distribution and peddling to combat illicit cigarette activities.
Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, anyone involved in dealing with, possession of, selling or buying illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.
Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
The COVID-19 Vaccination Programme has been implemented for the 44th day since February 26, 2021.
So far, about 791 300 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered for members of the public (please see Annex 1). Among them, about 559 800 persons have received their first dose, with about 346 100 persons receiving the Sinovac vaccine and about 213 700 persons receiving the BioNTech vaccine. About 231 500 persons have received their second dose, with about 137 800 persons receiving the Sinovac vaccine and about 93 700 persons receiving the BioNTech vaccine.
In the last 24 hours ending at 8pm today (April 10), about 46 300 persons have received vaccination and about 9 700 new vaccination bookings have been made online, detailed as follows:
(i) About 3 300 persons received their first dose of the Sinovac vaccine, including about 2 200 persons vaccinated at eight Community Vaccination Centres (CVCs) and about 1 100 persons at private doctors and clinics participating in the programme;
(ii) about 10 000 persons received their second dose of the Sinovac vaccine, including about 7 500 persons vaccinated at the CVCs and about 2 500 persons at private doctors and clinics;
(iii) about 12 900 persons received their first dose of the BioNTech vaccine at 21 CVCs, and about 20 100 persons received their second dose of the BioNTech vaccine;
(iv) the overall percentage of people who have received the Sinovac vaccine at the eight CVCs is about 97 per cent; while the overall percentage of people who have received the BioNTech vaccine at the 21 CVCs is about 98 per cent; and
(v) about 2 000 persons have made online bookings for receiving their first and second doses of the Sinovac vaccine, while about 7 700 persons have made online bookings for receiving their first and second doses of the BioNTech vaccine.
In the last 24 hours ending at 0.00am today, there were nine cases of ambulance transfers to hospitals. Among them, seven persons were discharged and two persons were discharged against medical advice (please see Annex 2).
As background information, in the last 24 hours ending at 0.00am today, there were 49 cases of stroke or myocardial infarction that required admission to the Intensive Care Unit, Acute Stroke Unit and Cardiac Care Unit of public hospitals. The state of new cases admitted to the wards concerned is provided as a cross reference to enhance fuller public understanding of cases of the kind recorded on vaccine recipients.
Having reviewed the usage and public demand for the COVID-19 testing service, the Government will extend the service period of the mobile specimen collection station at On Ting/Yau Oi Community Centre in Tuen Mun to April 14 (Wednesday), and the stations at Beech Street in Tai Kok Tsui, 100 Granville Road in Tsim Sha Tsui East and Hankow Road in Tsim Sha Tsui to April 18 (Sunday).
The opening dates and operating hours of the mobile specimen collection stations in various districts providing free COVID-19 nucleic acid testing services for the general public are stated in Annex. Persons of certain targeted groups (including employees of designated scheduled premises and catering businesses, construction site personnel, school staff), persons subject to compulsory testing, as well as persons with "LeaveHomeSafe" COVID-19 exposure notification or SMS notification from the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) reminding them to undergo testing as soon as possible may receive free testing at community testing centres or mobile specimen collection stations (if service scope is applicable).
People whose test results are negative will be informed by SMS message through their mobile phones. Persons subject to compulsory testing must properly keep the relevant records. If any specimen tested shows a preliminarily positive COVID-19 result, the specimen will be referred to the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch of the DH for a confirmatory test. Confirmed cases will be followed up and announced by the CHP.
The Government reminds the public that they can undergo COVID-19 testing through various means. For details, please refer to the following webpage: www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/early-testing.html. If a person has symptoms, he or she should seek medical attention immediately and should not attend the mobile specimen collection stations or community testing centres.
The Government spokesman urges all individuals who are in doubt about their own health conditions, or individuals with infection risks (such as individuals who visited places with epidemic outbreaks or contacted confirmed cases) to undergo testing promptly for early identification of infected persons.