The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

   As at 9am today (January 28), 76 COVID-19 confirmed patients were discharged from hospital in the last 24 hours. So far, a total of 9 239 patients with confirmed or probable infection have been discharged.
 
   At present, there are 672 negative pressure rooms in public hospitals with 1 220 negative pressure beds activated. A total of 836 confirmed patients are currently hospitalised in 22 public hospitals and a community treatment facility, among which 32 patients are in critical condition, 33 are in serious condition and the remaining 771 patients are in stable condition.
 
   The Hospital Authority will maintain close contact with the Centre for Health Protection to monitor the latest developments and to inform the public and healthcare workers on the latest information in a timely manner.
 
   Details of the above-mentioned patients are as follows:
 

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
 
     The meeting of the Legislative Council Bills Committee on Mainland Judgments in Matrimonial and Family Cases (Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement) Bill originally scheduled for tomorrow (January 29) at 9am has been rescheduled.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Monetary Authority announced today (January 28) that the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) ratio for Hong Kong remains unchanged at 1.0 per cent.
 
     "The economic environment in Hong Kong is still subject to a high level of uncertainty at the moment," the Monetary Authority, Mr Eddie Yue, said. "It is therefore appropriate to keep the CCyB ratio unchanged and continue to monitor the situation for a few more quarters."
 
     Further details of the decision may be found in the Announcement of the CCyB to Authorised Institutions on the Hong Kong Monetary Authority website.
 
Background
 
     In setting the CCyB ratio the Monetary Authority considered a series of quantitative indicators and qualitative information including an "indicative buffer guide" (which is a metric providing a guide for CCyB ratio based on the gap between the ratio of credit to GDP and its long term trend, and between the ratio of residential property prices to rentals and its long term trend). The latest indicative buffer guide, calculated based on 2020 Q3 data, signals a CCyB of 2.5 per cent. The projection based on all available data suggests that the indicative buffer guide would very likely signal a lower CCyB than this when all relevant 2020 Q4 data become available. The indicative buffer guide is expected to be volatile in the current circumstances.
 
     Whilst the indicative buffer guide, as its name suggests, provides only a "guide" for CCyB decisions, the determination of the jurisdictional CCyB ratio for Hong Kong is not a mechanical exercise and, in addition to the indicative buffer guide, the Monetary Authority also reviewed a range of other reference indicators. The information drawn from all these sources suggests that the economic environment in Hong Kong is still subject to a high level of uncertainty at the moment. It is therefore more appropriate to keep the CCyB ratio unchanged at 1.0 per cent and continue to monitor the situation for a few more quarters.
 
     The CCyB is an integral part of the Basel III regulatory capital framework and is being implemented in parallel by Basel Committee member jurisdictions worldwide. The CCyB has been designed by the Basel Committee to increase the resilience of the banking sector in periods of excess credit growth. The banking sector can then act as a "shock absorber" in times of stress, rather than as an amplifier of risk to the broader economy.
 
     The power to implement the CCyB in Hong Kong is provided by the Banking (Capital) Rules, which enable the Monetary Authority to announce a CCyB ratio for Hong Kong. The specific CCyB requirement applicable to a given Authorised Institution (AI) is expressed as a percentage of its CET1 capital to its total risk-weighted assets. Each AI's CCyB requirement may vary depending on the geographic mix of its private sector credit exposures and the CCyB applicable in each jurisdiction where it has such exposures.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) today (January 28) published both the latest quarterly issue of "HA Risk Alert" and the Annual Report on Sentinel and Serious Untoward Events as a risk management and communication initiative to further strengthen the incident reporting and sharing of lessons learnt for safety improvements in public hospitals.
 
     The HA spokesperson said the latest issue of "HA Risk Alert" reported one case of retained instrument or material after surgery/interventional procedure and two cases of inpatient suicide. Furthermore, among the 14 reported serious untoward events, there were 12 medication errors and two cases of patient misidentification.
 
     "Subsequent to incident review and analysis of root causes of these incidents, important lessons for patient safety are identified, while recommendations are made and shared in this publication to avoid similar events in future," the spokesperson added.
 
     The HA also released the Annual Report on Sentinel and Serious Untoward Events covering the 12 months from October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020, after it was discussed and endorsed by the HA Board this afternoon. There were a total of 24 sentinel events reported in the year.
 
     During the year, 50 serious untoward events were also reported, with 45 and five events related to medication error and patient misidentification respectively. Serious untoward events are unexpected occurrences which had not caused death or permanent harm to patients but would have had the potential to do so if there was not timely intervention. 
 
     The Annual Report on Sentinel and Serious Untoward Events can be accessed by healthcare workers and the public at www.ha.org.hk/report/sentinel_event, while "HA Risk Alert" has been distributed to the healthcare professionals in public hospitals for continuous quality improvement purposes and can be accessed by the public at www.ha.org.hk/riskalert. The next issue of "HA Risk Alert" will be published on April 30.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority spokesperson today (January 28) announced that two patients confirmed with COVID-19 infection passed away at public hospitals today.
 
     A 47-year-old male patient (case number: 8452) with chronic illness attended the Accident and Emergency Department of Kwong Wah Hospital (KWH) on December 23 last year due to shortness of breath. He was admitted to the isolation ward for treatment and later tested positive for COVID-19. After treatment, the patient's antibodies tested positive for COVID-19. His condition continued to deteriorate and he eventually succumbed at 8.32am today.
 
     In addition, a 66-year-old male patient (case number: 7259) with chronic illness was transferred to United Christian Hospital from a quarantine centre on December 10. His condition continued to deteriorate and he eventually succumbed at 12.16pm today.
 
     The hospitals are saddened by the passing away of the patients and will offer the necessary assistance to their families.
     
     The deceased patient with a preliminary positive result yesterday (January 27) at KWH has been confirmed as infected (case number: 10291). Including the two above-mentioned patients, 172 COVID-19 confirmed patients have passed away in public hospitals so far.