Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) said today (August 25) that it is investigating two confirmed Mpox (also known as Monkeypox) cases, and urged the public to heighten vigilance and avoid close physical contact with persons suspected of contracting Mpox. Meanwhile, high-risk target groups are advised to receive Mpox vaccination.

     The first case involves a 32-year-old foreign male patient with good past health. He arrived Hong Kong on August 9 and had developed swollen and painful lymph nodes, fever, chill, localised skin ulcer, headache and myalgia since August 23. He visited Kwong Wah Hospital on the same day and was admitted for treatment. He is in stable condition. An initial investigation revealed that he had visited Thailand and Türkiye during the incubation period. According to the patient, he only had high-risk exposure in Hong Kong during the incubation period. 
 
     The other case involves a 25-year-old male patient with good past health. He had developed rash since August 17 and localised skin ulcer since August 18. He visited the Yau Ma Tei Male Social Hygiene Clinic of the DH on August 22. He has been admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital and is in stable condition. An initial investigation revealed that he had visited Taiwan during the incubation period. According to the patient, he only had high-risk exposure in Hong Kong during the incubation period. 

     The CHP has not yet identified epidemiological linkages between these two patients. No epidemiological linkages between these two cases and other confirmed cases recorded in Hong Kong earlier have been found so far either. The CHP’s epidemiological investigations of the cases are ongoing, including contact tracing and infection source investigations. The CHP will report the cases to the World Health Organization.
 
     The CHP appeals to persons who experience Mpox symptoms or suspect themselves being infected should seek medical attention and receive treatment as soon as possible, and they should not engage in activities with others during which other people may have contact with their skin rash or body fluids. Members of the public should maintain good personal and hand hygiene to prevent virus transmission or infection through contact.
 
     The CHP had earlier set up an Mpox telephone hotline (2125 2373). The hotline operates from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) from 9am to 5pm, which enables those who suspect or are concerned they have had high-risk contact with confirmed patients, in particular men who have sex with men or those who have sexual practices with strangers, to make enquiries and receive relevant health advice. Meanwhile, the CHP reminds the public, especially those subject to high risks of exposure, to take precautions and avoid close physical contact with persons or animals suspected of infection. They should seek medical attention as soon as possible if they experience relevant symptoms, including rashes, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, exhaustion, muscle pain, and severe headaches.
 
     The Government has activated the Alert level of the preparedness and response plan for the disease in September last year and will continue to assess the risk in view of the latest scientific evidence and situation, and implement corresponding control measures.

     The Mpox vaccination programme for high-risk groups commenced on October 5 last year. Under the programme, the following high-risk target groups can receive Mpox vaccination on a voluntary basis:
 

1. Individuals with high-risk sexual practices, e.g. having multiple sexual partners, sex workers, or having a history of sexually transmitted infection within the past 12 months;
2. Healthcare workers responsible for caring of patients with confirmed Mpox;
3. Laboratory personnel working with zoonotic pox viruses; and
4. Animal care personnel with high risk of exposure in case of Mpox occurrence in animals in Hong Kong.

     High-risk target groups can receive Mpox vaccination at the designated Mpox vaccination centre (situated at 2/F, CHP building, 147C Argyle Street, Mong Kok) by appointment through email (mpv_booking@dh.gov.hk) or telephone booking line (2547 1900) during office hours. They can also receive Mpox walk-in vaccinations at all of the DH’s Social Hygiene Service Clinics (SocHS) (namely Chai Wan SocHS, Wan Chai Male SocHS, Wan Chai Female SocHS, Yau Ma Tei Male SocHS, Yau Ma Tei Female SocHS, Yung Fung Shee SocHS, Fanling SocHS and Tuen Mun SocHS). Further information of the clinics including their locations is available at www.dh.gov.hk/english/tele/tele_chc/tele_chc_shcf.html and www.dh.gov.hk/english/tele/tele_chc/tele_chc_shcm.html.

     Meanwhile, the DH’s Integrated Treatment Centre in Kowloon Bay, and the Hospital Authority’s Special Medical Clinics at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital will continue to provide Mpox vaccination services for their clients.

     â€‹For more details, please visit the CHP’s page on Mpox. read more

         The Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, today (August 25) officiated at the Award Presentation Ceremony 2023 of the Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme (HKSES). Seventy students were selected as the ninth cohort of awardees.
      
     Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Choi said that young people are the future, hope and pillars of Hong Kong, as well as the engine for propelling the long-term development of society and the economy. The vision is to inspire young people’s potential through education, and to nurture them into quality citizens with a sense of social responsibility and national identity, an affection for Hong Kong as well as an international perspective.
      
     She encouraged awardees to act as ambassadors in telling good Hong Kong stories while overseas, and make the best use of their enriched knowledge and skills upon graduation in contributing to Hong Kong and supporting Hong Kong’s integration into the overall development of the country.
      
     All awardees received their formal secondary school education in Hong Kong, studying either local or non-local curricula. Among them, 57 will be pursuing undergraduate studies and 13 will be pursuing postgraduate studies at world-renowned universities. These include not only top-notch comprehensive universities but also world-class institutions specialising in particular disciplines.
      
     The awardees will pursue a wide spectrum of disciplines, with almost half of them pursuing programmes related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Other disciplines include law, arts, culture and performing arts, medical and health sciences, and social sciences. The distribution of the awardees by different disciplines is shown in the Annex.
      
     A total of 723 applicants competed for this year’s HKSES. Apart from outstanding academic achievements, the awardees also demonstrated excellence in their leadership qualities.
      
     As the selection process is ongoing, some more applicants may be offered the scholarship after today’s ceremony. A list of the awardees as of today has been uploaded to the HKSES website (hkses.edb.gov.hk).
      
     First launched in November 2014, the HKSES has been regularised from the 2019/20 academic year onwards. It aims to support local students to pursue studies at world-renowned universities outside Hong Kong with a view to grooming a top cadre of talent with global vision, an international network and world-class education, thereby contributing to enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness as Asia’s world city in a globalised knowledge economy. Since its introduction, the HKSES has benefited 840 students. The key features of the scholarship scheme are available at the HKSES website.
      
     The application details of the next cohort of the HKSES will be announced shortly.

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     The Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, continued to lead a delegation from the Hong Kong’s legal and dispute resolution sector, comprising more than 60 representatives from the Hong Kong Bar Association, the Law Society of Hong Kong and enterprises as well as other representatives, to attend the second seminar on the legal challenges and coping strategies under the Belt and Road Initiative today (August 25) in Beijing. Organised by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) and co-organised by the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Department of Justice (DoJ), the seminar allowed Hong Kong’s legal sector to introduce to Mainland enterprises the strength of Hong Kong’s common law system, explore how Hong Kong’s legal services can support Mainland enterprises to “go global”, analyse how Mainland enterprises can make use of Hong Kong’s legal professional services to complement the strengths of Hong Kong enterprises, so as to promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative and assist the country’s high-standard opening up, contributing to the country’s market development together.

     In his opening remarks, Mr Lam said that amid the complicated international environment these days, state-owned and private enterprises may inevitably have to face legal challenges and risks when going global. Hong Kong is duty-bound to support state-owned and private enterprises to overcome these legal challenges and risks. Mr Lam said he hoped that the seminar, which the Hong Kong legal sector attached great importance to, would establish good communication channels between Mainland enterprises and the Hong Kong legal profession.

     This is the second seminar on the legal challenges and coping strategies under the Belt and Road Initiative held in collaboration by the three parties since the first one held in Beijing in November 2019. The seminar consisted of three sessions featuring representatives from the SASAC and MOFCOM as well as business leaders and senior legal professionals as speakers. The event received an overwhelming response, with more than 150 participants including representatives from 86 state-owned enterprises and private enterprises.

     The first two sessions of the event introduced to the audience the strength of Hong Kong’s common law system and legal opportunities for Mainland enterprises to “go global”, as well as the challenges and coping strategies of the legal and compliance risks under the Belt and Road Initiative. During the third session, representatives from enterprises and relevant organisations shared their practical experiences on using Hong Kong legal services to support enterprises in making foreign investments. Question-and-answer sessions were included in all three sessions for deepening the exchanges and mutual learning between Mainland enterprises and the Hong Kong legal profession.

     In the evening, Mr Lam met with students and representatives of relevant Mainland authorities participating in the Summer Attachment Programme for Hong Kong Law Students in the Mainland in Beijing to have a better understanding of their internship experiences. The DoJ has been running the Summer Attachment Programme since 2015. After their local placements, the DoJ’s summer interns will be attached to relevant authorities in the Mainland, including the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the High People’s Court of Beijing Municipality, the Beijing Internet Court, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, the Second Branch of Beijing People’s Procuratorate and the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission. The programme gives an opportunity for Hong Kong students to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the Mainland legal system and to broaden their horizons.

     Mr Lam will conclude his visit and return to Hong Kong tomorrow (August 26).

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     The Immigration Department (ImmD) carried out a repatriation operation today (August 25). A total of 30 Vietnamese illegal immigrants were repatriated to Vietnam. The persons removed comprised 14 males and 16 females, all of which w… read more

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (August 24) detected a passenger drug trafficking case at Hong Kong International Airport and seized about 28 kilograms of suspected heroin with an estimated market value of about $28 million.

     A 41-year-old male passenger and a 34-year-old female passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday. During customs clearance, Customs officers found the batch of suspected heroin concealed inside the interlinings of a total of 74 pieces of nylon mats in their checked-in luggage. Both passengers were subsequently arrested.

     An investigation is ongoing.

     Following the resumption of normal travel and exchanges with the Mainland and other parts of the world, the number of visitors to Hong Kong has been increasing steadily. Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002/).

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