â€‹The Transport Department (TD) today (March 30) reminded members of the public that the Yue Man Square Public Transport Interchange at the Kwun Tong Town Centre redevelopment project will commence operation at 5.30am on April 2 (Friday). The bus terminus is located on the first floor of the project's podium while the minibus terminus is on the ground floor.
      
     Eight bus routes, 12 green minibus (GMB) routes and nine red minibus (RMB) routes will be relocated to the interchange. Details are as follows:
 
Franchised Bus
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(i) KMB routes No. 3D, 16M, 17, 28S and N3D;
(ii) Cross-harbour routes No. 101, 101X and 101R;
 
GMB
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(iii) Kowloon GMB routes No. 22M, 22A, 23, 23B, 23M, 34M, 34S, 36A, 50 and 63;
(iv) New Territories GMB routes No. 10M and 13; and
 
RMB
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(v) Routes operating between Kwun Tong and Jordan Road, Mong Kok, Lok Ma Chau, Castle Peak Road, Mei Foo, Lam Tin, Sau Mau Ping, Lei Yue Mun and Yau Tong.
 
     The Yue Man Square Temporary Bus Terminus, the Tung Yan Street temporary GMB and RMB termini, and the termini or en-route stops at Yue Man Square, Mut Wah Street, Hip Wo Street and an unnamed road between Yue Man Square and Kwun Tong Road that the above routes currently terminate at or observe will be cancelled.
      
     Franchised bus companies and minibus operators have put up notices inside bus/GMB/RMB compartments and at stops to inform passengers of the arrangements. Members of the public may obtain public transport information via 1823, the TD's website (www.td.gov.hk) or the mobile application "HKeMobility".

     The Transport Department (TD) today (March 30) reminded members of the public that the temporary measure to relax the monthly transport expenses threshold of the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme from $400 to $200 will be extended till December 31, and the monthly subsidy cap will also be temporarily increased from $400 to $500 from April 1 to December 31.
           
     To allow more commuters to benefit from the Scheme during the epidemic, the Government has implemented a special measure to temporarily relax the monthly threshold of the Scheme from $400 to $200 from July 2020 to June this year. The Government has decided to extend the aforementioned special measure for another six months till end of this year, and temporarily increase the monthly subsidy cap from $400 to $500 from April to end of this year. In other words, during the period from April 1 to December 31, the Government will provide a subsidy amounting to one-third of the actual public transport expenses in excess of $200, subject to a maximum of $500 per month for each Octopus.
 
     The TD reminded commuters that they can collect the subsidy of the previous month from the 16th of each month. The subsidy for each month is valid for collection within the next three months.
   
     For details of the Scheme, please visit the website (www.ptfss.gov.hk). Commuters can also check their record of public transport expenses and subsidy amount through the Octopus App or the Scheme hotline 2969 5500.

Monthly wage
 
     According to the statistics released today (March 30) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the median monthly wage of employees in Hong Kong in May – June 2020 was $18,400. This was 1.5% higher than the median of $18,200 in May – June 2019.
 
     The change in monthly wage in 2020 when compared with 2019 is useful in reflecting the change in take-home pay of employees between these two years.
 
     In May – June 2020, the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentile monthly wages of Hong Kong employees were $9,600, $13,200, $28,800 and $45,300 respectively.  The percentage changes were -3.9%, +1.4%, +2.2% and +1.6% compared with the corresponding figures in May – June 2019 respectively (Table 1).
 
     As shown in Table 2, year-on-year increase in median monthly wage was observed for both male and female employees. Nevertheless, year-on-year decrease was recorded in the median monthly wage in some of the age groups, educational attainments, occupational groups and industry sections.
 
Hourly wage
 
     The median hourly wage of employees in Hong Kong in May – June 2020 was $74.4, 1.8% higher than the median of $73.0 in May – June 2019.  The 5th, 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentile hourly wages were $41.0, $44.0, $52.8, $117.6 and $190.8 respectively. The overall hourly wage distribution of employees is shown in Table 3.  The numbers of employees earning less than selected hourly wage levels are shown in Table 4.
 
     In May – June 2020, the median hourly wage of male employees was $83.0 while that of female employees was $66.0.  Analysed by age group, the median hourly wage of employees at age 35 – 44 was the highest ($83.9), followed by employees at age 25 – 34 ($77.6) and at age 45 – 54 ($75.6). The median hourly wages of employees of different sexes, age groups, educational attainments, occupational groups and industry sections are given in Table 5.
 
Further information
 
     The above wage statistics were compiled based on the data obtained from the 2020 Annual Earnings and Hours Survey (AEHS). The purpose of the survey is to provide comprehensive data on the level and distribution of wages, employment details and demographic profile of employees in Hong Kong. These statistics are useful for studies on labour-related topics by the private sector and the Government. They also provide important inputs for analyses related to the Statutory Minimum Wage. A sample of about 10 000 business undertakings was selected for the survey.
 
     Wage(s) is defined to include basic wage, commission and tips not of gratuitous nature, guaranteed bonuses and allowances, and overtime allowance paid to an employee in the survey period. It does not cover bonuses and allowances of gratuitous nature, end of year payment and payments in kind.  Number of working hours is the sum of contractual/agreed working hours (including meal breaks if they are regarded as working hours according to the employment contract or agreement with the employer) and overtime hours worked at the direction of employers.
 
     By arranging the hourly wages of all employees from the smallest to the largest value, the median hourly wage is the hourly wage of the employee who ranks in the middle of all the employees concerned. In other words, the median hourly wage is the hourly wage value that delineates the lowest 50% of all the employees concerned.
 
     Percentile hourly wage figures are useful in discerning the distribution of hourly wage of employees. The pth percentile hourly wage is the hourly wage value which delineates the lowest p% of all the employees concerned, where p can be any integer value from 1 to 99. For instance, the 10th percentile hourly wage is the hourly wage value that delineates the lowest 10% of the employees. The 25th percentile, 50th percentile and 75th percentile hourly wages are also known as the lower quartile, median and upper quartile hourly wages respectively.
 
     The median and percentile monthly wage figures are derived similarly as the median and percentile hourly wage figures.
 
     Regarding the survey coverage, AEHS covers all business undertakings irrespective of their employment sizes and industries, except those engaged in agriculture, forestry and fishing activities. All employees of business undertakings falling within the scope of the survey who are under the coverage of the MWO are included in the survey. Government employees as well as student interns, work experience students and live-in domestic workers as exempted by the MWO are excluded. As it is necessary to derive the hourly wage of employees from their monthly wages and hours of work, those employees with zero working hours in the survey reference period are also excluded.
 
     Details of the wage statistics compiled from the 2020 AEHS and the survey methodology are given in the 2020 Report on Annual Earnings and Hours Survey, which will be available by mid-April 2021. Users can then download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp210.jsp?productCode=B1050014).
 
     Enquiries concerning the survey results of AEHS can be directed to the Wages and Labour Costs Statistics Section (2) of the C&SD at 3105 2369.

     The Labour Department (LD) announced today (March 30) that mobile specimen collection stations will continue to be set up at popular gathering places of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) on Sundays in April and the day following Ching Ming Festival (April 5) to provide a free COVID-19 testing service for FDHs.
      
     An LD spokesman said, "The LD had set up mobile specimen collection stations in March at popular gathering places of FDHs to facilitate all FDHs in Hong Kong to receive testing. To benefit more FDHs, the LD will continue to provide the testing service to all FDHs in April. We strongly encourage FDHs to participate in the free testing to safeguard their health. We also appeal to employment agencies and employers to encourage and arrange for FDHs to receive the free testing service at designated mobile specimen collection stations. No prior appointment is required."
      
     The four mobile specimen collection stations will be set up at the Chater Road Pedestrian Precinct in Central (near the bus stop), the Hing Fat Street entrance of Victoria Park in Causeway Bay (near Exit A2 of MTR Tin Hau Station), the Lai Chi Kok Park entrance (near Exit D of MTR Mei Foo Station) and the Tsuen Wan Park entrance (near Exit D of MTR Tsuen Wan West Station). Mobile specimen collection stations are open on Sundays in April (April 4, 11, 18 and 25) and the day following Ching Ming Festival (April 5), from 10am to 5pm. An FDH should bring along his or her Hong Kong identity card or passport, and register his or her personal information on the spot at the government website (www.tgptest.gov.hk; The category "Non-Government Staff – Foreign domestic helpers" should be selected) in order to receive an SMS notification of the test result. FDHs will be given the barcode number of the specimen bottle they collect after registration for reference. If necessary, duty officers can assist FDHs in registration.  
      
     The testing agent will provide the specimen collection service by combined nasal and throat swab to FDHs receiving the test, and will deliver the specimens to the laboratory for testing. The testing agent will not acquire or retain any personal information of the participants. Participants will be notified of a negative test result via SMS. Positive cases will be referred to the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health (DH) for follow-up and the DH will contact the participant concerned if it is confirmed to be an infection case.
      
     For enquiries, please contact the LD through the dedicated FDH hotline at 2157 9537 (manned by 1823) or by email fdh-enquiry@labour.gov.hk. 

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) announced today (March 30) that intraocular lenses for cataract procedures received by Eligible Persons will no longer be separately charged in public hospitals.  
 
     "Starting from April 1 this year, Eligible Persons will only need to pay the public charges for ambulatory service or inpatient service when receiving an intraocular lens implantation procedure for cataract treatment," the HA spokesperson said.
 
     "Intraocular lens implantation has become a well-established technology and a standard treatment for cataracts upon clinical assessment by ophthalmologists in public hospitals. Upon consultation with the Government, the HA decided to cover the provision of basic models of intraocular lenses in the scope of standard public services for Eligible Persons."
 
     Public hospitals currently charge cataract patients $1,520 separately for the purchase of an intraocular lens as one of the Privately Purchased Medical Items listed in the Gazette.
 
     The HA spokesperson added that private patients and Non-Eligible Persons will continue to pay for the intraocular lenses in accordance with the Gazette.
 
     The new arrangement will be applicable to patients with their intraocular lens implantation procedures scheduled from April 1 onwards. It is estimated that around 20 000 patients will benefit from the new arrangement each year.