Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

Yellow fire danger warning

     The fire danger situation today (April 10) is yellow and the risk of fire is high. People are urged to prevent fires breaking out and hikers should also be vigilant.

     Yan Chai Hospital has been issued a Public Subscription Permit to hold a territory-wide flag sale from 7am to 12.30pm today (April 10), a spokesman for the Social Welfare Department (SWD) said. 
 
     Details of the charitable fund-raising activities, including any updated information, covered by the issued Public Subscription Permit have been published on the GovHK website (www.gov.hk/en/theme/fundraising/search). Permits for flag days containing information on contact methods of the flag-selling organisations and the approved flag-selling activities have also been uploaded to the SWD's website (www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_controlofc/sub_flagdays) for reference. For enquiries, please call the SWD's hotline at 2343 2255, or the designated hotline of the 1823 Call Centre at 3142 2678.
 
     In the case of suspected fraudulent flag day activities, people should not make any donation and should immediately report the matter to the Police, the spokesman added.

     A 34-year-old woman was sentenced to immediate imprisonment for 10 days by the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (April 9) for violating the Compulsory Quarantine of Persons Arriving at Hong Kong from Foreign Places Regulation (Cap. 599E) (the Regulation).

     The woman was earlier issued a compulsory quarantine order stating that she must conduct quarantine at hotel for 14 days. Before the expiry of the quarantine order, she was found to have left the place of quarantine on September 15, 2020 and she was also found to have taken off her wristband during a surprise check on September 16, 2020, without reasonable excuse nor permission given by an authorised officer. She was charged with contravening sections 8(1), 8(4) and 8(5) of the Regulation and was sentenced by the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today to immediate imprisonment for 10 days for each of the two charges, which are to run concurrently.

     Pursuant to the prevailing Regulation, a person (excluding exempted persons) who arrives at Hong Kong from a place outside China, must be placed under quarantine for 21 days beginning on the day of arrival, if the person has stayed in any specified foreign place(s) (other than Australia, New Zealand and Singapore), during the day of arrival and 21 days preceding the day of arrival; the quarantine period will be 14 days if the specified foreign place(s) that the person has stayed include only Australia, New Zealand or Singapore. Furthermore, pursuant to the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C), a person (excluding exempted persons) who arrives at Hong Kong from a place in China other than Hong Kong, must be placed under quarantine for 14 days begins on the day of arrival, if the person has only stayed in a place in China, Australia, New Zealand or Singapore, during the day of arrival and 14 days precedes the day of arrival; the quarantine period will be 21 days if the person has stayed in a place outside China, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Breaching a quarantine order is a criminal offence and offenders are subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months.

     A spokesman for the Department of Health said the sentence sends a clear message to the community that breaching a compulsory quarantine order is a criminal offence that the Government will not tolerate, and solemnly reminded the public to comply with the Regulation. As of today, a total of 121 persons have been convicted by the courts for breaching compulsory quarantine orders and have received sentences including immediate imprisonment for up to 14 weeks or a fine of up to $15,000. The spokesman reiterated that resolute actions will be taken against anyone who has breached the relevant regulations. 

     The COVID-19 Vaccination Programme has been implemented for the 43rd day since February 26, 2021.
 
     So far, about 743 600 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered for members of the public (please see Annex 1). Among them, about 543 100 persons have received their first dose, with about 342 800 persons receiving the Sinovac vaccine and about 200 300 persons receiving the BioNTech vaccine. About 200 500 persons have received their second dose, with about 127 600 persons receiving the Sinovac vaccine and about 72 900 persons receiving the BioNTech vaccine.
 
     In the last 24 hours ending at 8pm today (April 9), about 43 300 persons have received vaccination and about 12 300 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 1 700 persons vaccinated at eight Community Vaccination Centres (CVCs) and about 1 600 persons at private doctors and clinics participating in the programme;
 
(ii) about 11 300 persons received their second dose of the Sinovac vaccine, including about 6 900 persons vaccinated at the CVCs and about 4 400 persons at private doctors and clinics;
 
(iii) about 10 300 persons received their first dose of the BioNTech vaccine at 21 CVCs, and about 18 400 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 94 per cent; while the overall percentage of people who have received the BioNTech vaccine at the 21 CVCs is about 95 per cent; and
 
(v) about 2 700 persons have made online bookings for receiving their first and second doses of the Sinovac vaccine, while about 9 600 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 10 cases of ambulance transfers to hospitals. Among them, nine persons were discharged and one person was admitted for observation (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.

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (April 9) said that as two confirmed cases and two preliminary cases of COVID-19 recently occurred at four units in Block 3, Oi Fai House, Yau Oi Estate in Tuen Mun, the CHP is proactively following up to investigate whether the infections of the cases are related, so as to stop the potential risk of further spread of the virus.
 
     The Government issued compulsory testing notice to the building on April 7 and detected two preliminary cases among the residents undergoing the testing. Both cases resided in unit 09 as the previously confirmed case.

     The CHP has co-ordinated with related Government departments and conducted a site inspection tonight to the concerned floors and units of Block 3, Oi Fai House, Yau Oi Estate to investigate and examine if environmental factors were involved in the infection of the cases. The CHP took into account the opinions from experts and decided to carry out prudent measures on infection control. The DH will issue quarantine orders to all asymptomatic residents of units 09 on all floors of Block 3, Oi Fai House, Yau Oi Estate (2nd Floor to 26th Floor) and transfer them to quarantine centres; symptomatic residents will be sent to the hospital for treatment.

     The CHP spokesman urges all individuals who are in doubt about their own health condition, or individuals with exposure to infection risk, to undergo testing promptly for early identification of infected persons.