Three charities have been issued Public Subscription Permits to hold flag sales from 7am to 12.30pm today (April 6). They are, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong Dog Rescue (HKDR); in Kowloon, the Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong; and in the New Territories, Hong Kong Evangelical Church Social Service Limited, a spokesman for the Social Welfare Department (SWD) said.

     Arrangements have been made with the charities to help people distinguish between the three flag-selling activities.

     Information on the three flag-selling organisations on April 6 is as follows:
 

     For enquiries, please call the SWD's hotline at 2343 2255, or the designated hotline of the 1823 Call Centre at 3142 2678. Information on flag days is available at the SWD's website (www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_whatsnew) and the GovHK portal (www.gov.hk/en/theme/fundraising/search). Permits for flag days containing contact information of the flag-selling organisations and information on the approved flag-selling activities have also been uploaded to the SWD's website (www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_controlofc/sub_recentlyap). For enquiries about the detailed flag-selling arrangements, please contact the individual flag-selling organisations.

     Details of the charitable fund-raising activities covered by the Public Subscription Permit issued by the SWD have also been uploaded to the GovHK website (www.gov.hk/fundraising).

     In the case of suspected fraudulent flag day activities, people should not make any donation and should immediately report the matter to the Police, the spokesman added.

     In response to media enquiries on a case in which the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) has so far failed to locate a Register of Electors relating to the 2016 Legislative Council (LegCo) General Election, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB) today (April 5) gives the following response:

     The CMAB recently learned that the REO had yet to recover a Register of Electors of a polling station in the Kwai Tsing District in respect of the 2016 LegCo General Election. The CMAB expressed grave concern about the incident, and tasked the REO to complete the relevant verification and search expeditiously within one week and give a full account of the findings immediately afterwards.

     The CMAB also instructed the REO to give prior notice of the incident to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD), and to confirm to PCPD that should the loss of the relevant register be ascertained, action would be taken promptly to notify all affected electors and to mitigate any possible damage.

The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:

     The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) today (April 5) made the following statement on a case in which the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) has not located a Register of Electors of a polling station in Kwai Tsing in the 2016 Legislative Council General Election.
 
     The EAC is very concerned about the incident. The EAC has instructed the REO to confirm as soon as possible whether that Register of Electors is missing, and to launch a comprehensive review on the handling of voter registration information, electoral materials during election, and the actual execution. A detailed report should be submitted to the EAC.

     The EAC understands that whenever a public election is held by the REO, a lot of manpower and resources to be deployed in the process, including venues arrangement, training of polling staff, as well as transportation and storage of electoral materials. However, it should be very cautious when implementing details such as handling and storage of voter registration information, with security and honesty as the paramount principle.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     Regarding the announcement of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) today (April 5) on cases of measles, the spokesperson for the Hospital Authority (HA) gave the following supplementary information:

     The Hospital Authority received notification from the CHP today that the newly announced cases of measles include a 20-year-old female nurse working in the Medical Ward of Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH).

     The female nurse, with past good health, has neither travelled nor visited to the Hong Kong International Airport. She developed fever on March 31 and rash on April 3. She attended Tin Shui Wai Hospital on April 4 and was then transferred to Tuen Mun Hospital for isolation. She is currently in stable condition.

     During her communicable period, she has not worked in high risk ward. Her vaccination record shows that she had two doses of measles vaccination taken previously. On April 1 and 2, the two days before onset rash, she was on sick leave.

     PMH has already stepped up infection control measures such as enhancing cleansing and disinfection in the concerned ward, enhancing ventilation, reminding staff members and visitors to take proper infection controls measures like wearing masks and washing hands.

     HA will work closely with the CHP on the source investigation and contact tracing. Preliminary information shows that a 46-year-old female patient, who discharged against medical advice from the ward earlier, developed rash and readmitted for infection of measles later. The patient works in airport.

     According to established guidelines, PMH will monitor the nurse's close contact in the workplace accordingly and blood tests will be conducted to ascertain their measles immunity if needed.

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) is today (April 5) investigating four additional cases of measles infection.

​     As at 4pm today, one case involving a worker at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) was recorded. The case involves a 20-year-old woman with good past health, who developed fever since April 2 and rash since April 3. She sought medical attention at the Accident and Emergency Department (AED) at United Christian Hospital on April 3 and was admitted for treatment. A laboratory test of her respiratory specimen was positive for the measles virus. She has been in a stable condition and reported to have measles vaccination. She had no travel history during the incubation period or the communicable period.
 
     Meanwhile, the CHP is investigating three other cases of measles infection. The second case involves a 20-year-old female healthcare worker with good past health, who developed fever since March 31 and rash since April 3. She consulted a general practitioner (GP) on April 1. She attended the AED at Tin Shui Wai Hospital on April 4 and was transferred to Tuen Mun Hospital for admission and treatment on the same day. A laboratory test of her respiratory specimen was positive for the measles virus. She has been in a stable condition and reported to have measles vaccination. She had no travel history during the incubation period or the communicable period. The CHP will work closely with the Hospital Authority on the source investigation and contact tracing.

     The third case involves a 36-year-old man with good past health, who developed headache since March 30, fever since March 31 and rash since April 2. He consulted a GP on April 1 and another GP on April 2 and attended the AED at Prince of Wales Hospital on April 3 and was admitted for treatment. A laboratory test of his respiratory specimen was positive for the measles virus. He has been in a stable condition. His measles vaccination history is unknown. He had travelled to Turkey and Tunisia during the incubation period but had no travel history during the communicable period.

     The fourth case involves an 14-month-old baby boy with good past health, who developed fever, cough and rash since April 2. He was taken to the AED at North Lantau Hospital on April 3 for medical attention and was transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital for admission and treatment on April 4. A laboratory test of his respiratory specimen was positive for the measles virus. He has been in a stable condition and reported to have measles vaccination. He had no travel history during the incubation period or the communicable period.

     Except the case involving a healthcare worker, according to the other three patients, they did not have contact with measles patients during the incubation period.

     The home contacts of all the patients have remained asymptomatic so far and have been put under medical surveillance.

​     Upon notification of the cases, the CHP immediately commenced epidemiological investigations and conducted relevant contact tracing. Investigations are ongoing. The public places the patients visited during the communicable period are listed in the appendix.

     "The incubation period (the period from infection to appearance of illness) of measles ranges from seven days to 21 days. Members of the general public who have visited the public places listed in the appendix during the period should observe if they develop relevant symptoms, such as fever, skin rash, cough, runny nose and red eyes in seven to 21 days (the medical surveillance period). If symptoms arise, they should wear surgical masks, stop going to work or school and avoid going to crowded places. They should also avoid contact with non-immune persons, especially persons with weakened immunity, pregnant women and children aged below 1. Those suspected to have been infected are advised to seek medical attention as early as possible and reveal relevant contact history of measles to healthcare professionals," a spokesman for the DH said.

     Upon confirmation of measles outbreak, the DH has implemented control measures at the airport including vaccination and blood testing services. A total of 21 persons received measles vaccination at the vaccination stations as at 6pm today, bringing the cumulative number of vaccinations given to 7,919. A hotline (2125 1122) has been set up for public enquiries and operates from 9am to 5.45pm daily. As of 5pm today, the hotline had received a total of 2,873 enquiries.

     From tomorrow to next Friday (April 6 to 12), the vaccination quota for the measles vaccination station at the airport remains at 500 doses daily. Vaccination to eligible airport staff will be provided to the following target groups:

(1) Born in or after 1967, and have not received two doses of measles vaccination, and have not been infected with measles before, and with evidence of living with infants under 1 year old or living with pregnant women; or

(2) Have laboratory evidence of testing not positive against measles antibody (IgG).

     Details of evidence are as follows:

(a) Supporting documents for living with infants under 1-year-old: for example birth certificate, discharge summary or vaccination card of the infant

(b) Supporting documents for living with pregnant women: for example, positive pregnancy tests or antenatal follow-up cards of the pregnant women

(c) Supporting documents for laboratory evidence: for example blood results from the DH's measles serology test or any laboratory within the past 12 months

     The venue and operation hours of the airport vaccination station are as follows:
   

     As for the blood test service, the DH will continue with the provision of a measles serology test service for airport staff to identify those who need the measles vaccination. From next Monday to Friday (April 8 to 12), the DH will provide blood test service daily to around 100 airport staff who were born in or after 1967, with priority to be given to staff belonging to target group (1). The blood test service is suspended from today to Sunday (April 5 to 7).

     The venue and operation hours of the airport blood test station are as follows: