The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     â€‹The spokesperson for the Kowloon Hospital (KH) made the following announcement today (July 29):

     An 88-year-old male patient in an extended care ward of KH was confirmed to be infected with Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) on July 23. In accordance with the prevailing infection control guidelines, the hospital commenced a contact tracing investigation. Three more male patients (aged 75 to 99) from the same ward were confirmed to be VRE carriers and asymptomatic. One patient is currently hospitalised at Queen Elizabeth Hospital for other medical needs and one patient was discharged. The remaining two patients are being treated in isolation at the hospital and are in stable condition.

     The ward concerned has adopted the following enhanced infection control measures:
 

1. enhanced hand hygiene and stringent contact precautions;
2. enhanced attention to contamination-prone procedures; and
3. enhanced disinfection and cleaning of the concerned ward.

     The hospital will continue the enhanced infection control measures and closely monitor the situation of the ward. The cases have been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow up.

     Police today (July 29) appealed to the public for information on a girl who went missing in Sham Shui Po.

     Cheng Hiu-tung, aged 12, went missing after she left her residence on Apliu Street on July 27 afternoon. Her family made a report to Police yesterday (July 28).

     She is about 1.54 metres tall, 50 kilograms in weight and of fat build. She has a round face with yellow complexion and long black straight hair. She was last seen wearing a pink T-shirt, a black skirt and white sports shoes.

     Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing girl or may have seen her is urged to contact the Regional Missing Persons Unit of Kowloon West on 3661 8036 or 9020 6542, or email to rmpu-kw@police.gov.hk, or contact any police station.

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by UnionPay International on phishing fraud and counterfeit UnionPay International websites, which have been reported to the HKMA.

     The HKMA wishes to remind the public that anyone who has encountered such fraud or provided his or her personal information or account credentials to the counterfeit websites should contact the retail payment system operator, and report to the Police or contact the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre of the Police at 18222.

     In response to the Japanese Government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on July 26 to noon today (July 29), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 369 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the "aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt" category, in the past three days (including last Saturday and Sunday). No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS's thematic website titled "Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan" (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).
 
     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 150 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD's website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO's website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 71 845 samples of food imported from Japan (including 46 199 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 16 896 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, as representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, announced today (July 29) the relevant per annum interest rate for the sixth interest payment of Silver Bond Series due 2024 (Issue Number 03GB2408R) (the Bonds) issued under the Retail Bond Issuance Programme of the Government Bond Programme.
      
     According to the Issue Circular dated June 29, 2021, for the Bonds, the sixth interest payment of the Bonds is scheduled to be made on August 12, 2024 (Note), and the relevant interest rate is scheduled to be determined and announced on July 29, 2024, as the higher of the prevailing Floating Rate and Fixed Rate. 
      
     On July 29, 2024, the Floating Rate and Fixed Rate are as follows:
 

 
     Based on the Floating Rate and Fixed Rate set out above, the relevant interest rate for the sixth interest payment is determined and announced as 3.50 per cent per annum.

Note: The original sixth interest payment was on August 10, 2024 (Saturday). As the aforesaid payment date is not a business day in Hong Kong under the definition of the Issue Circular, the interest payment date will be rescheduled to August 12, 2024, i.e., the next day business day in Hong Kong in accordance with the aforesaid Circular. The interest will be accrued to August 12, 2024, the new payment date.