The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Transport conducted a visit to the Hong Kong Port and the Hong Kong Link Road of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) today (October 20) to better understand the facilities as well as the cross-boundary and local transport arrangements for HZMB before its commissioning.

     Accompanied by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan; the Director of Highways, Mr Daniel Chung, as well as representatives of various government departments, Members first visited the Passenger Clearance Building in the Hong Kong Port. They visited the arrival hall and immigration facilities to learn more about the immigration clearance arrangements for HZMB.

     Members then visited the public transport interchange to better understand the routes as well as the pick-up and drop-off areas for different modes of public transport.  After that, Members visited the departure hall of the Passenger Clearance Building and the public transport interchange for Zhuhai and Macao.

     Members also visited the viaduct, tunnel and at-grade roads of the Hong Kong Link Road.  They took the opportunity to observe the area near the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Boundary.

     Members participating in the visit included the Panel Chairman, Mr Chan Han-pan; the Deputy Panel Chairman, Mr Jeremy Tam; Panel members Mr Chan Hak-kan, Mr Paul Tse, Ms Claudia Mo, Mr Michael Tien, Mr Yiu Si-wing, Dr Helena Wong, Mr Poon Siu-ping, Dr Lo Wai-kwok, Mr Chung Kwok-pan, Mr Ho Kai-ming, Ms Tanya Chan, Mr Lau Kwok-fan, Dr Cheng Chung-tai, Mr Gary Fan and Mr Au Nok-hin; as well as non-Panel members Mr Wong Ting-kwong, Mr Ma Fung-kwok and Dr Elizabeth Quat.

        

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The spokesperson for Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) announced a Sentinel Event today (October 20) as below:

     A 61-year-old male patient was admitted to the isolation room in a medical ward of CMC on October 15 due to severe pneumonia. The patient had underlying chronic disease leading to poor lung function. He required oxygen therapy and inotropic support.

     In the afternoon of October 19, the attending doctor explained to the patient and his family on high risk of deterioration. The patient agreed for Do-Not-Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) when his condition continued to deteriorate and in the last stage. He was calm at that moment.

     At 6.03 pm on the same day, a nurse found the patient lying on the toilet floor inside the isolation room with the shower hose around his neck. He showed no signs of life. As it was not caused by his underlying disease, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was performed immediately but in vain. The patient was certified death. The hospital reported the incident to the Police for investigation.

     The hospital was saddened by the incident and expressed deep condolences to the family of the patient. Necessary assistance would be provided as and when required.

     The hospital is very concerned about the incident which was categorized as a Sentinel Event. The incident has been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office. A root cause analysis panel will be set up to look into the incident. Recommendations will be proposed by this panel to prevent the future occurrence of similar incident. The report will be submitted to the Hospital Authority within eight weeks. The incident has also been reported to the Coroner.

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, on reprovisioning of welfare facilities as a result of Kwun Tong comprehensive development project after attending a radio programme this morning (October 20):

Reporter: Secretary, one English question. What sort of criteria will you be looking for in the relocation so that it would not cause any hassle to students who will be relocating to that area, no matter when it comes to facilities around the relocation and the transport connection?

Secretary for Labour and Welfare: No one currently enrolled in Shine Skills Centre (Kwun Tong) (of the Vocational Training Council) will be relocated. They will all graduate from Shine Skills Centre (Kwun Tong). The only cohort of trainees that may be affected will be those trainees entering training in 2020, two years later. But then, we hope that the new service provider (of the new integrated vocational training centre) will be in place by 2020, so they would be able to communicate with the potential students, the trainees and their parents when they are considering what kind of service their children would enter after their graduation from special schools. So that they can choose among all the different types of vocational, employment support or skills training programmes available in the community.

     We will be providing more information. In fact, we have already been doing it all the time because there are so many different types of services available for graduates of special schools. We have been providing this kind of information to them already. I expect the special schools' principals, teachers and social workers know how to support their students. In the future, I think the support will be even stronger.

Reporter: How about the location?

Secretary for Labour and Welfare: The location (of the new integrated vocational training centre) will be convenient and probably more convenient to most potential students. Thank you very much.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

     Police advise motorists that special traffic arrangements will be implemented in Sha Tin to facilitate the race meeting tomorrow (October 21).

     The arrangements will come into effect two hours before the start of the first race and will last until the crowds have dispersed after the race meeting.

     Appropriate traffic signs will be put up and police will be on hand to guide motorists.

     The Police also appeal to people going to Sha Tin Racecourse for the race meeting and to Happy Valley Racecourse for cross betting to make maximum use of public transport.

     Parking spaces at the two racecourses are available only to holders of appropriate permits issued by Hong Kong Jockey Club and any vehicles illegally parked will be towed away.
     

     The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is set to open to traffic on October 24.

     News.gov.hk spoke with Highways Department engineers to learn about the innovative designs and features of the project's Passenger Clearance Building, as well as the challenges the project team encountered when constructing the Hong Kong Link Road.

     The two stories appear on news.gov.hk today (October 20) in both text and video format.