Police yesterday (February 20) held the Regional Traffic Day in Kowloon West to raise public awareness of road safety through stringent enforcement actions.

     A total of 241 officers from Traffic Kowloon West and District Traffic Teams of Kowloon City, Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po and Yau Tsim Districts were deployed to take enforcement actions at traffic black spots in Kowloon West.

     The operation resulted in the issue of 1,854 fixed penalty tickets and 129 summonses. Among the fixed penalty tickets and summonses issued, a total of 1,731 penalty tickets were issued for illegal parking and the rest were for other traffic offences.

     Police figures revealed that a total of 283 traffic accidents involving casualties occurred in Kowloon West in the first month of 2019, of which 67 cases involved pedestrian injuries.

     Police will continue to take regular enforcement actions to ensure road safety.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     During the winter surge, the Hospital Authority (HA) is closely monitoring the service demand of Accident and Emergency Departments and the occupancy rate in public hospitals. Key service statistics are being issued daily for public information. Details are in the appended table.

     In addition, the weekly bulletin "Surge in Brief" (appended) will be issued every Thursday to illustrate the past month trend of key service statistics in public hospitals. "Surge in Brief" can be accessed in the HA Winter Surge designated webpage (www.ha.org.hk/goto/wintersurge/en).

     A boy who went missing in Kwai Chung has been located.

     So Tsz-wang, aged 14, went missing after he left his residence in Kwai Chung Estate on February 14 morning. His family made a report to Police on the same day.

     The boy was located in the Mainland on February 17 afternoon. He sustained no injuries and no suspicious circumstances were detected.

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (February 21) that due to inclement weather, the red flag has been hoisted at Clear Water Bay Second Beach in Sai Kung District.  Beach-goers are advised not to swim at the beach.

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

     Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:

     The Marine Department today (February 21) reminded masters, coxswains and persons-in-charge of vessels navigating in Hong Kong waters to proceed at a safe speed and exercise extreme caution because restricted visibility of less than 2 nautical miles has been reported.

     Appropriate sound signals shall be made when underway or at anchor. All vessels must comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea.

     Also, when radar is used without the benefit of adequate plotting facilities, the information obtained from the equipment is rather limited and should be construed accordingly.

     Visibility reports are broadcast by the Vessel Traffic Centre (VTC) on VHF channels 02, 12, 14, 63 and 67.

     In the event of an accident, a report shall be made immediately to the VTC at Tel: 2233 7801.