Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:
Yellow fire danger warning
The fire danger situation today (December 25) is yellow and the risk of fire is high. People are urged to prevent fires breaking out and hikers should also be vigilant.
​The Government has gazetted the specifications under the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C), the Compulsory Quarantine of Persons Arriving at Hong Kong from Foreign Places Regulation (Cap. 599E) and the Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulation of Cross-boundary Conveyances and Travellers) Regulation (Cap. 599H), and published the latest compulsory testing notice under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J), to tighten the compulsory quarantine requirements for persons arriving at Hong Kong who have stayed in places outside China, and restrict the boarding of persons who have stayed in South Africa for Hong Kong.
A Government spokesman said, "According to the guidelines of the World Health Organization, the incubation period of the virus could be as long as 14 days. While there is currently no evidence showing that the incubation period of the new virus variant is longer, in view of the expert advice that the incubation period of virus carried by very few infected persons may be longer than the quarantine period of 14 days, and noting the drastic change of the global pandemic situation with the new virus variant found in more countries, there is a need for the Government to introduce resolute measures immediately to tighten the compulsory quarantine requirements for persons arriving at Hong Kong who have stayed in places outside China, so as to ensure that no case would slip through the net even under very exceptional cases where the incubation period of the virus is longer than 14 days.
"Furthermore, taking into account the discovery of the new virus variant with high transmissibility in South Africa, it is necessary for the Government to adopt stringent measures to restrict the boarding of persons who have stayed in South Africa for Hong Kong."
The Secretary for Food and Health has exercised the power under the relevant Regulations to make specifications and notice, which took effect from 0.00am on December 25. Details are as below:
1. The requirements under Cap. 599C and Cap. 599E have been tightened so that all persons arriving at Hong Kong (either via the airport or land boundary control points) who have stayed in places outside China on the day of arrival at Hong Kong or during the 21 days before that day have to undergo compulsory quarantine for 21 days in designated quarantine hotels;
2. The requirements under Cap. 599H have been tightened so that all persons who have stayed in South Africa, apart from the United Kingdom (UK) as announced earlier, for more than two hours in the past 21 days will not be allowed to board for Hong Kong; and
3. An updated compulsory testing notice has been made under Cap. 599J, which imposes compulsory testing requirements to persons subject to compulsory quarantine who arrived at Hong Kong during the period of December 2 to December 23, 2020 and have stayed in the UK, as well as persons subject to compulsory quarantine who arrived at Hong Kong during the period of December 2 to December 24, 2020 and have stayed in the remaining places outside China. Apart from the requirement to undergo testing at the community testing centres or the designated quarantine hotels on the 19th or 20th day following their arrival at Hong Kong, the relevant persons have to stay at their place of residence, private premises or the place of quarantine specified on the quarantine order until the test result is available.
The spokesman said, "The Government will continue to monitor closely the situation, including the developments of the epidemic situation both globally and locally and changes in the volume of cross-boundary passenger traffic, and will tighten the compulsory quarantine requirements for persons arriving at Hong Kong from other high-risk places when necessary."
The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, this morning (December 24) visited Jat Min Chuen in Sha Tin to learn more about the first enforcement action on a COVID-19 compulsory testing notice conducted by the Sha Tin District Office and other departments.
Several confirmed cases were found on a particular floor at Ming Yan Lau last week. To suppress the spread of the virus, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health mandated that people who had been present at Ming Yan Lau for more than two hours during a specified period had to undergo tests on or before December 21, having regard to the policy that all specified persons should be compulsorily tested. During the period, a mobile specimen collection station was set up at the estate to provide convenient and free testing for residents. Meanwhile, residents were also allowed to comply with the testing requirement through other means.
Accompanied by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Caspar Tsui, Mrs Lam was briefed by the District Officer (Sha Tin), Dr Janet Wong, on the enforcement action at Ming Yan Lau that started at 6am today. Mrs Lam noted that the enforcement action included checking residents' certification of negative test results at the entrance of the building as well as conducting checks on the certification of the residents at home by visiting each household. Since it was the first enforcement action on a compulsory testing notice, residents found not to have undergone tests as required were immediately arranged to undergo tests at the mobile specimen collection station set up at the estate. As at 6pm today, a total of 390 residents had undergone tests.
The enforcement action was co-ordinated by the Home Affairs Department and the Sha Tin District Office, and included the participation of Tin Sum Police Station, the Auxiliary Medical Service, the Hong Kong Housing Society and a testing agency. During the visit, Mrs Lam explained to a resident that strict enforcement action on compulsory testing would help achieve the purpose of clearing infection in the community. Noting that some residents could not produce testing certification because they had undergone tests through the use of deep throat saliva specimen bottles, Mrs Lam said she agreed that improvement should be made and thanked for the co-operation of the residents. The operation was in general conducted smoothly.
The Government exercised for the first time on November 22 the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J), which empowers the authority to issue a compulsory testing notice, specifying a category or description of persons who are required to undergo a viral test having regard to the epidemic situation in order to achieve "early identification, early isolation and early treatment". The Food and Health Bureau has since issued a number of compulsory testing notices, covering persons who had been to over 50 specified premises during specified periods, staff members of residential care homes for the elderly and residential care homes for persons with disabilities, taxi drivers and symptomatic persons who had been required by private medical practitioners to undergo tests. Together with the persons who are required by the Hospital Authority or the CHP to undergo compulsory testing, more than 440 000 compulsory tests have been completed since the onset after mid-November of the new wave of epidemic, through which nearly 2 000 confirmed cases have been identified.
"Public support and participation is of paramount importance to anti-epidemic efforts. I would like to express my gratitude to the majority of the members of the public for their proactive co-operation on the anti-epidemic measures, including undergoing tests as required by compulsory testing notices and complying with social distancing measures. The Government will take firm law enforcement action against the offences by a minority of the public. The relevant departments will consolidate the experience of the operation today and will continue to take similar law enforcement action in the future and consider issuing fixed penalty tickets against offenders in accordance with the law.
"Since the epidemic situation remains severe, I, once again, appeal to members of the public to continue to strictly comply with the social distancing measures and stay at home during the Christmas and New Year holidays to support the healthcare workers and all those colleagues who are on the front line to make their best endeavours to fight the disease," Mrs Lam said.
A female civilian staff member who is posted to the Police Headquarters was preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19. She felt unwell recently, therefore sought medical treatment and underwent testing yesterday (December 23). Preliminary results released today (December 24) showed that she was tested positive for COVID-19. She had no travel history over the past 14 days and her work did not involve any contact with members of the public. She wore a mask at work and last attended work on December 22.
Police are highly concerned and have the following messages for the public:
(1) While awaiting further assessment and recommendations from the Department of Health (DH), officers that might have come into close contact with the civilian staff member have been arranged to quarantine for observation and undergo tests for the virus;
(2) Police have immediately deployed staff to clean and disinfect the premises where the civilian staff member works in;
(3) Police have reminded officers to maintain personal hygiene and reduce social contact to minimise the risk of infection. They should immediately report their cases and consult a doctor if they feel unwell; and
(4) Police will deploy resources flexibly to ensure the provision of emergency services remains unaffected.
Police will continue to maintain close communication with the DH and proactively provide information such as the recent duty record of the civilian staff member concerned. Arrangements will be made for close contacts to be conveyed to quarantine centres to undergo quarantine.
The Government will exercise the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) and publish in the Gazette a compulsory testing notice, which requires any person who had been present at two specified premises during specified periods to undergo a COVID-19 nucleic acid test.
A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) said today (December 24), "Upon contact tracing by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), a number of confirmed cases not epidemiologically linked to each other were recently found in certain places within a short period of time. Members of the public who had been to the relevant places might be subject to higher infection risks. The Government will publish a compulsory testing notice under Cap. 599J, which requires persons who had been to the specified premises during the specified periods to undergo testing immediately."
"The Government published on December 14 a compulsory testing notice, requiring any person who had been present at Kwai Tung House of Tung Tau (II) Estate, 183 Tung Tau Tsuen Road, Wong Tai Sin for more than two hours during the specified period to undergo testing by December 19. In view of the possible long incubation period of the virus, the relevant persons have to undergo a second test."
Details are as follows:
1. Any person who had been present at Fu Yan House of Fu Shan Estate, 2 Fung Shing Street, Diamond Hill, for more than two hours at any time during the period from November 13 to December 24, 2020 (including but not limited to visitors, residents and workers) have to undergo testing by December 29, 2020;
2. Any person who had been present at Kwai Tung House of Tung Tau (II) Estate, 183 Tung Tau Tsuen Road, Wong Tai Sin, for more than two hours at any time during the period from November 22 to December 14, 2020 (including but not limited to visitors, residents and workers) have to undergo testing during the period from December 25 to December 27, 2020.
Persons subject to compulsory testing may choose to undergo testing as below:
1. To obtain a deep throat saliva specimen collection pack from any of the 121 post offices, vending machines set up at 20 MTR stations or 47 designated general outpatient clinics (GOPCs) of the Hospital Authority and return the specimen to the designated specimen collection points (see the distribution points and time, and the specimen collection points and time at www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/early-testing.html);
2. To self-arrange testing provided by private laboratories recognised by the Department of Health (see the list at www.coronavirus.gov.hk/pdf/List_of_recognised_laboratories_RTPCR.pdf);
3. To attend any community testing centres (see the list at www.communitytest.gov.hk/en/);
4. To visit any mobile specimen collection stations (see the list and target groups (if applicable) at www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/early-testing.html) for testing;
5. To undergo testing at any healthcare facilities of the Hospital Authority (including GOPCs and accident and emergency departments) as instructed by a medical professional of the Hospital Authority; or
6. To use a specimen bottle distributed to the relevant specified premises by the CHP, and return the specimen bottle with the sample collected as per the relevant guidelines (only applicable to persons who had been to specified premises 1 and are subject to compulsory testing).
"If persons who are subject to compulsory testing have symptoms, they should seek medical attention immediately and undergo testing as instructed by a medical professional. They should not attend the community testing centres."
For persons who had been to specified premises 1 and are subject to testing, if they opt for testing routes (1) to (5) above, they must keep the SMS (mobile phone text message) notification containing the result of the test, the Attendance Certificate, the Discharge Note, or the test report for checking by a law enforcement officer when the officer requires the persons to provide information about their undergoing the specified test. If they opt for testing route (6) above, they must provide personal particulars (including name, identification document number and residential address) when required by a law enforcement officer for checking by the officer with the CHP. If persons who are subject to compulsory testing have previously undergone the above mentioned test between December 20 and December 24, they would be taken to have complied with the requirements set out in the compulsory testing notice.
Persons who had been to specified premises 2 and are subject to testing must keep the SMS (mobile phone text message) notification containing the result of the test, the Attendance Certificate, the Discharge Note, or the test report for checking by a law enforcement officer when the officer requires the persons to provide information about their undergoing the specified test.
Furthermore, persons who are subject to testing under the compulsory testing notice should, as far as reasonably practicable, take appropriate personal disease prevention measures including wearing a mask and maintaining hand hygiene; and unless for the purpose of undergoing the specified test, stay at their place of residence and avoid going out until the test result is ascertained as far as possible.
Any enquiries on compulsory testing arrangements may be addressed to the hotline at 6275 6901 which operates daily from 9am to 6pm. If persons who are subject to compulsory testing plan to conduct testing at any of the community testing centres, they can check the centre's appointment status in advance. The hotlines of the community testing centres are at www.communitytest.gov.hk/en/info/.
The Government will continue to trace possibly infected persons who had been to the relevant premises, and seriously verify whether they had complied with the testing notice. Any person who fails to comply with the testing notice 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/her to undergo testing within a specified timeframe. Failure to comply with the order is an offence and the offender would be liable to a fine at level 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months.
The spokesman said, "The Government urges all individuals who are in doubt about their own health conditions, or individuals with infection risks (such as individuals who visited places with epidemic outbreaks or contacted confirmed cases) to undergo testing promptly for early identification of infected persons. The FHB will publish compulsory testing notices regarding particular groups when necessary taking into account the epidemic development and the testing participation rate."