The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (February 8) visited a peach blossom farm in Pat Heung and the Skylight Market in Tin Shui Wai to learn more about their business situations and extend advance Lunar New Year greetings to members of the public.
 
     Mrs Lam started the visit at a farm where Lunar New Year flowers have been grown for more than 50 years. As she learned more about its business this year, Mrs Lam expressed her gratitude to the farmer, who is over 80 years old, and for years has supplied peach blossom trees to Government House to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Mrs Lam paid tribute to him for running the farm for several decades. Noting that owing to the epidemic, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) had to make special arrangements for the Lunar New Year fairs, and as adjustments were also made subsequently, she said that flower growers were bound to be affected and appealed for their understanding. She pointed out that the Government will do its utmost to fight the virus in order to resume the daily lives of members of the public and help economic activities return to normal as soon as possible. She also said that she would support the promotion of high value-added and sustainable development of the local agricultural sector as well as provide technical support to farmers.
 
     Accompanied by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Miss Vivian Lau; and the Director of Architectural Services, Ms Winnie Ho, Mrs Lam then visited the FEHD's Skylight Market in Tin Shui Wai. The market commenced operation at the end of last year, providing 36 dry and wet goods stalls. With the application of the modular integrated construction method, the building of the market was completed in 10 months. The design of the market has also adopted the concept of "place making" with the intention to create it as a place for leisure and gathering. Mrs Lam noted that different anti-epidemic measures were taken in the market, including the installation of thermometers, display of the QR code for the "LeaveHomeSafe" COVID-19 exposure notification mobile app and arrangement of contactless payments by all stalls. She chatted with a number of stall operators and customers, and was pleased to note that they were satisfied with the market's novel design, clean environment, convenient location and smooth operation. She said that the Government would continue to build new public markets and improve the facilities and management of existing markets in accordance with the plan announced earlier, including the building of new markets in Tseung Kwan O, Tin Shui Wai, Tung Chung and Kwu Tung North New Development Area as well as overhauling the Aberdeen Market to meet the daily needs of the people.
 
     Mrs Lam bought some fruits in the market and extended festive greetings to stall operators and residents.

            

     The Government today (February 8) exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) to make a "restriction-testing declaration" effective from 7pm, under which people within the specified "restricted area" in Jordan (i.e. Man Ying Building, 2-24 Man Ying Street, Ferry Point, Jordan) are required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing. 

     As Man Cheong Building, Man Yiu Building, Man Fai Building, Man King Building, Man Wai Building, Man Yuen Building, and Man Wah Building are located near Man Ying Building which is in the "restricted area", the Government understands that some residents may be worried about the possible risk of infection. 

     In view of this, the Home Affairs Department (HAD), taking into account the latest development of the epidemic, provides free rapid antigen test kits to residents of the seven buildings near the "restricted area" today on a pilot scheme basis.  

     The HAD has arranged staff members to distribute rapid antigen test kits and masks to residents of the relevant buildings before 11pm today and urge them to take the test by themselves, in the hope of finding potential cases of infection to safeguard the health of the residents and achieve the goal of "zero infection" in the community.

     The Government will arrange for the testing agency of the Man Ying Building "restricted area" to conduct follow-up testing for residents concerned on-site if there is any suspected case.

     The Government appeals for the co-operation of members of the public to safeguard the health of themselves and their families by undergoing testing on a voluntary basis and fight the virus together to achieve the goal of zero cases in the district.

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (February 8) said that as four confirmed cases and three preliminary cases of COVID-19 recently occurred at four units in Wai Lee Building, 997 King's Road in Quarry Bay, the CHP is following up to investigate whether the infections of the cases are related, so as to mitigate the potential risk of the further spread of the virus.

     The Government enforced "restriction-testing declaration" and compulsory testing notice in the building last night (February 7) and detected three preliminary cases among the residents undergoing the testing. Two of the three cases resided in 04 unit as the previously confirmed case.

     The CHP has coordinated with related Government departments and conducted a field inspection this afternoon to the concerned floors and units of Wai Lee Building to investigate and examine if environmental factors were involved in the infection of the cases. After taking into account the opinions from experts and investigation findings, the CHP decided to carry out prudent infection control measures. As confirmed cases were found in three of 04 units, the DH will issue quarantine orders to all asymptomatic residents of 04 units from 1st floor to 23th floor of Wai Lee Building and transfer them to quarantine centres; whereas symptomatic residents will be sent to the hospital for treatment.

     The CHP spokesman urged 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 infection.

     The Government today (February 8) exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) to make a "restriction-testing declaration" effective from 8.30pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as "persons subject to compulsory testing") within the specified "restricted area" in Sham Shui Po (i.e. Hang On Building, 88-90 Fuk Wing Street/46A-46C Kweilin Street, Sham Shui Po; see Annex) are required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing. Persons subject to compulsory testing are required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the area have undergone testing and the test results are mostly ascertained. The Government aims at finishing this exercise at about 7am tomorrow (February 9), in order to achieve the goal of zero cases in the district with concerted efforts.
          
     A Government spokesman said, "Under Cap. 599J, the Government can, according to the needs of infection control, make a 'restriction-testing declaration'. As there is a confirmed case recorded in Hang On Building, 88-90 Fuk Wing Street/46A-46C Kweilin Street, Sham Shui Po, recently and, as assessed, the risk of infection in the relevant area may be higher, the Government decided to make 'restriction-testing declaration' for the relevant area."
 
     The Government will set up temporary specimen collection stations at the "restricted area" and request persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo testing before 0.00am tomorrow. Persons subject to compulsory testing will be arranged to undergo nucleic acid testing at specimen collection stations where dedicated staff will collect samples through combined nasal and throat swabs. Persons subject to compulsory testing must stay at their place of residence until all test results are ascertained to avoid cross-infection risk. The Government will arrange door-to-door specimen collection for people with impaired mobility and elderly persons.
          
     "We understand that this exercise will cause inconvenience to the public. The Government has made arrangements to carry out testing for all persons present in the 'restricted area' as soon as possible at night after most people are released from work. The aim is to strive to complete testing of all identified persons subject to compulsory testing and confirm the results, and finish the exercise at around 7am tomorrow with a view to allowing residents to start going to work at around 7am. The Government will make a public announcement when the declaration expires officially. In the cases in which employees are unable to go to work because of the declaration, the Government hopes their employers can exercise discretion and not deduct the salaries or benefits of the employees."
     
     If staying in the "restricted area" will cause unreasonable hardship to an individual who is not a resident in the area when the declaration takes effect, government officers may exercise discretion and allow that person to leave the area after considering the individual circumstances. That person must have followed the instructions to undergo testing and leave his or her personal information for contact purposes.
 
     Persons in the "restricted area" who have undergone testing from February 6 to 8, 2021, and are able to provide the SMS notification through a mobile phone or related certification containing the test results, are not required to take the test again. However, they are required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the area have undergone testing and the test results are mostly ascertained. Also, according to the compulsory testing notice issued today, any person who had been present at the above building for more than two hours from January 26 to February 8, 2021, even if they were not present in the "restricted area" at the time when the declaration took effect, must undergo compulsory testing by February 10.
          
     The Government has prepared simple food and basic cleaning supplies for the residents restricted by the declaration. The Home Affairs Department has set up a hotline (Tel: 2835 1473) and a dedicated hotline (Tel: 3755 6816) for ethnic minorities. The hotline services started operation at 8.30pm today for residents restricted by the declaration to make enquiries and seek assistance. The Social Welfare Department will also provide assistance to the affected persons.
          
     The Government understands the residents in the district are worried and anxious because of the increase in confirmed cases in recent days. The Government hopes this temporary inconvenience will completely cut the local transmission chains and ease residents' worries and fear, so that they will regain confidence in resuming social and business activities in the area, and return to a normal life.
               
     The Government appeals to persons subject to compulsory testing for their full co-operation by registering and undergoing testing, and waiting for the results patiently at home. The Government will strictly follow up on whether the persons concerned have complied with the compulsory testing notices and "restriction-testing declaration". Any person who fails to comply with the compulsory testing notices commits an offence and may be fined a fixed penalty of $5,000. The person would also be issued with a compulsory testing order requiring him or her to undergo testing within a specified time frame. Failure to comply with the compulsory testing order or the "restriction-testing declaration" is an offence and the offender would be liable to a fine at level 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months.

     â€‹In response to recent discussions on specialist training provided by the Hospital Authority (HA) to non-locally trained Hong Kong doctors, the Food and Health Bureau gave the following response today (February 8):
 
     HA has been facing an ever-increasing service demand against an insufficient supply of local medical graduates for over 10 years.  Along with the high attrition rate of doctors in HA, the turnover of doctors could not be adequately replaced and new service programmes could not be provided with optimal manpower over the past years.
 
     With the increase in number of local medical graduates starting from 2018/19, HA has accordingly increased the number of Resident Trainee posts, with a view to employing all qualified local medical graduates and providing relevant specialist training.  Nevertheless, HA is still facing manpower shortage of doctors.  As at 2019/20, the cumulative number of doctor (Resident Trainee) shortfall is around 260, which is in addition to the attrition of around 320 full-time equivalent doctors.
 
     According to HA, HA was not able to fill all vacant Resident Trainee posts in the past few years.  Against such, further to recruitment of local graduates, HA is also recruiting non-locally trained doctors under limited registration (LR).  This is also one of the measures to alleviate the heavy workload of frontline doctors.  HA has been collaborating with the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (HKAM) and its Colleges to facilitate specialist training of the non-locally trained doctors under LR.  At present, a number of Colleges in HKAM have been accepting non-locally trained doctors under LR for continuation of specialist training in Hong Kong.  Four specialties (Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine and Paediatrics) in HA are accepting applicants with pre-intermediate qualifications for recruitment.
 
     In fact, the admission of more qualified non-locally trained Hong Kong doctors (especially specialists) to return to Hong Kong to work in the public healthcare settings provides an opportunity for increasing the number of trainers and expanding the overall training capacity.
 
     The Government will schedule a meeting with the representatives of HA, HKAM and its Colleges after the Chinese New Year to discuss ways to provide more specialist training opportunities for both locally and non-locally trained Hong Kong doctors, including more training resources, training manpower and training materials.