Tag Archives: China

     The Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene has ordered a food factory in Wong Tai Sin to suspend business for 14 days as the operator repeatedly breached the Food Business Regulation (FBR) by extending the business area illegally.
 
     The premises, located on the ground floor at 2A Koon Wah Lane in Tsz Wan Shan, Wong Tai Sin, was ordered to suspend business from today (January 11) to January 24.
 
     “In May and October last year, two convictions for the above-mentioned breach were recorded against the premises. A total fine of $6,000 was levied by the court and 30 demerit points were registered against the licensee under the department’s demerit points system. The contraventions resulted in the 14-day business suspension,” a spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said.
 
     The licensee of the food premises had a record of two convictions for the same offence in August 2018 and January last year. A total fine of $4,000 was levied and 30 demerit points were registered. The breaches led to business suspension for seven days in March and April last year.
 
     The spokesman reminded licensees of food premises to comply with the FBR, or their licences could be suspended or cancelled.
 
      Licensed food premises are required to exhibit a sign, at a conspicuous place near the main entrance, indicating that the premises have been licensed. A list of licensed food premises is available on the FEHD’s website (www.fehd.gov.hk/english/licensing/index.html). read more

     The Labour Department (LD) is investigating a fatal work accident in Tseung Kwan O this morning (January 11) in which a man died.      The LD immediately deployed staff to the scene upon receiving a repor… read more

     The Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, will depart for an official visit to Singapore tomorrow (January 12). He will meet senior government officials and visit building projects to learn more about Singapore’s work and experience with urban planning and development, adoption of innovative construction technologies as well as its efforts in promoting green buildings.

     During his visit, Mr Wong will hold discussions with senior officials of the Building and Construction Authority, the Housing and Development Board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority. He will call on the Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport, Mr Khaw Boon Wan, and hold a lunch meeting with the Minister for National Development, Mr Lawrence Wong.

     In addition, Mr Wong will visit building projects constructed with Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) modules to learn more about the process, the experience of Singapore in promoting the adoption of this innovative construction method, as well as the achievement of employing MiC in uplifting the overall performance of the construction industry. He will also visit off-site yards to gain a better understanding of the workflow and process of assembling free-standing integrated MiC modules.

     Accompanying Mr Wong on the visit will be the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), Mr Lam Sai-hung, and the Principal Government Engineer, Mr John Kwong.

     Mr Wong will return to Hong Kong in the afternoon of January 15. During his absence, the Under Secretary for Development, Mr Liu Chun-san, will be the Acting Secretary for Development. read more

     Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, after attending a radio programme today (January 11):

Reporter: Does Hong Kong Government see the need to further step up or enhance the measures in light of the new death case just announced by the Mainland? If so, in what direction? Second question, regarding the DNA sequence of the virus, is that really nothing that the Government can do rather than wait for the Mainland authorities? Can’t Hong Kong authorities head to Wuhan to do something?

Secretary for Food and Health: I think the Government has always been active and proactive in getting information. We have an existing mechanism of communication. Regarding this communication, the Government has always been proactive in trying to get information and having communication with the Mainland authorities. In terms of getting the genome sequence, we have already requested and we are waiting for the reply of the Mainland authorities. An important point to note is that according to our infection control experts, right now with our laboratory competence, actually we can also test given the information of the novel corona virus but it takes slightly longer time. If we can get the whole genome sequence, obviously the time can be cut short. So, it is not something we can’t do but we are, at the same time, trying to get information in terms of preparing and also controlling any public health issues in relation to infectious disease.

Reporter: Regarding the new death case, does Hong Kong Government see the need to enhance measures?

Secretary for Food and Health: First of all, we got some new information from the Mainland authorities this morning regarding the number of cases. As you can see from the information provided, actually the number of confirmed cases is now down to 41 given the novel corona virus confirmation. Secondly, according to the information, the Wuhan authority and the health department are doing a lot of work currently in terms of trying to get more epidemiological information, public health surveillance as well as treating the cases in the hospital. Of note is that there are still some serious cases, but there are also some that have already been discharged from hospital. According to the Mainland authorities, there is no evidence of human to human transmission and there is also no healthcare professional being infected. These are the information that we have collected so far. And also of note is after the closure of the concerned market in Wuhan, there is no new case since January 3. I think these are important epidemiological information for us to do further assessment. I will be chairing a meeting later on. We are also trying to invite experts. And also I will be receiving reports from the Centre for Health Protection and the Hospital Authority about the latest assessment and whether there is any latest information.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) read more

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department today (January 11) announced that Hong Kong public libraries, including the Hong Kong Central Library and the mobile libraries, will be closed at 5pm on Lunar New Year’s Eve (January 24).
 
      All public and mobile libraries and students’ study rooms will be closed from January 25 to 27.
    
     The opening hours of all public libraries on January 28 will be the same as those for public holidays.
 
      Moreover, system maintenance work will be carried out from 6pm on January 24 to 11.59pm on January 27, during which the following services will be suspended:
 
– library mobile app services as well as Internet and telephone renewal services;
– other online library services, including the library catalogue, borrowers’ record enquiries, reservation of library materials and Internet and Digital Service Workstations, electronic resources (e-Books and e-Databases); and
– the self-service library stations (readers may return books to the stations before the due date, and the loan records will be updated on the next working day).
 
     Details can be obtained from notices posted at all public libraries and the website at www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/library-notices/library-notices-list.html. For enquiries, please call 2921 0208. read more