​The Mainland expert delegation led by the Head of the National Health Commission's COVID-19 leading task force, Professor Liang Wannian, continued its visit in Hong Kong today (March 5). They visited a community testing centre as well as community isolation and treatment facilities in Hong Kong to get a better picture on the workflow and actual implementation of identifying confirmed cases, isolation and treatment for those contracted COVID-19 in the city.
Accompanied by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, Professor Liang and some members of the delegation started their itinerary at the community testing centre located at To Kwa Wan Sports Centre to learn about its operation, service arrangements and specimen collection process, and to see how Hong Kong worked towards early identification of COVID-19 infected persons through an extensive network of convenient service points for testing.
They then proceeded to the community isolation facility (CIF) in Tsing Yi. The Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, and representatives of the Civil Aid Service and the Hospital Authority (HA) were also present. Professor Chan briefed the delegation members the work of HA staff at the CIF. The Tsing Yi CIF is mainly for the admission of infected persons with no or mild symptoms. Apart from visiting the CIF, the delegation also received briefing by relevant representatives on the operation of the CIF and Hong Kong's strategy in community isolation.
The rest of the expert delegation first visited the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre. They then, accompanied by representatives of the HA and the Social Welfare Department (SWD), visited the community treatment facility as well as the community isolation facility serving the elderly and people with disabilities from residential care homes in the AsiaWorld-Expo to learn about the operation of the sections managed by the HA and the SWD respectively.
Professor Chan said, "The Mainland expert delegation led by Professor Liang, together with the task force of Mainland epidemiologists and the Guangdong COVID-19 medical expert delegation that had arrived in Hong Kong, provided us with valuable advices and guidance on Hong Kong's anti-epidemic work during their inspection here. The guidance offered in respect of the actual situation in Hong Kong by the delegation helped the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to analyse the epidemic development and reinforce the measures in 'early identification, early isolation and early treatment'. That is one of the key support extended by the Central Government to Hong Kong."
Led by Professor Liang, the delegation came to Hong Kong on February 28. They were joined by the four epidemiological experts who arrived in Hong Kong earlier to conduct visits in Hong Kong.
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