The Task Force on Supplies from the Mainland led by the Transport and Logistics Bureau (TLB) has been working closely with the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government to explore various means to stabilise the supply of goods from the Mainland to Hong Kong.
 
     A spokesperson for the TLB said that the "Sea Express" water transportation service from the Mainland to Hong Kong has been fully launched and its capacity is rising to increase the supplies of fresh food, other daily necessities and manufacturing materials. The current supply of fresh food from the Mainland is stable.
 
     The spokesperson said today (August 2) that Shenzhen operated 38 cargo vessel trips and transported around 5 050 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cross-boundary supplies by water yesterday (August 1), equivalent to about 23 610 tonnes of goods, of which around 10 TEUs (about 10 tonnes) were fresh food and around 5 040 TEUs (about 23 600 tonnes) were non-fresh food, according to information from the Mainland authorities.
 
     Since the launch of services from the three ports in Shenzhen since February 18 to yesterday, a total of around 751 450 TEUs of cross-boundary supplies have been transported, equivalent to about 3 643 540 tonnes of goods, of which around 2 170 TEUs (about 18 570 tonnes) were fresh food and around 749 280 TEUs (about 3 624 970 tonnes) were non-fresh food.
 
     Meanwhile, to avoid a spillover of the epidemic, the Transport Department (TD) arranges for dedicated staff to conduct rapid nucleic acid tests, using nasopharyngeal swabs for specimen collection, for cross-boundary goods vehicle drivers at various land boundary control points. Only drivers with a negative result are allowed to enter the Mainland. A total of 3 193 rapid nucleic acid tests were conducted yesterday, among which eight cases that tested indeterminate were found. The TD has passed the cases to the Department of Health for follow-up.
 
     The TLB will closely monitor the situation and co-operate with the Mainland authorities to facilitate and implement various measures to ensure both smooth cross-boundary land transport and a stable goods supply to Hong Kong, while reducing the risk of epidemic transmission in both the Mainland and Hong Kong.

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 Bank of Singapore Limited relating to fraudulent mobile application (App), which has been reported to the HKMA. A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website.
      
     The HKMA wishes to remind the public that banks will not send SMS or e-mails with embedded hyperlinks which direct them to the banks' websites to carry out transactions. They will not ask customers for sensitive personal information, such as login passwords or one-time password, by phone, email or SMS (including via embedded hyperlinks).
      
     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the Apps concerned, should contact the bank using the contact information provided in the press release, and report the matter to the Police by contacting the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.

     A landfill user was convicted at Fanling Magistrates' Courts today (August 2) for contravening the Waste Disposal (Designated Waste Disposal Facility) Regulation and fined $3,000. The user provided incorrect information to staff of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) while he was preparing to dispose of waste at the West New Territories (WENT) Landfill.

     A spokesman for the EPD said that the department is determined to stop landfill users from delivering construction waste to landfills in the guise of municipal solid waste to avoid construction waste disposal charges. In a blitz operation conducted at the WENT Landfill in January 2022, EPD staff encountered a landfill user who claimed that he was not delivering construction waste, but EPD staff subsequently found construction waste in what the landfill user had disposed of. After an investigation and collection of evidence, the EPD prosecuted the landfill user concerned in accordance with the Waste Disposal (Designated Waste Disposal Facility) Regulation.

     The spokesman said that according to the Waste Disposal (Charges for Disposal of Construction Waste) Regulation, construction waste producers, including construction contractors, renovation contractors and premises owners, are required to open a billing account with the EPD and pay the construction waste disposal charge in advance for using government waste disposal facilities. In accordance with the Waste Disposal (Designated Waste Disposal Facility) Regulation, a person who deliberately makes any statement or gives any information in a material particular that is incorrect commits an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of $100,000.

     The spokesman reminded the construction and transport sectors to strictly comply with the legal requirements. The EPD will continue to take stringent enforcement action to deter any illegal activities within landfills.

     The Government announced today (August 2) that having regard to experts' advice, the Secretary for Health has approved the lowering of the minimum age for receiving the the CoronaVac vaccine from 3 years to 6 months old for "off-label use". Based on related clinical trials and studies of vaccination for local adolescents, the experts considered that three doses of CoronaVac vaccine (each dose of the same dosage as that for older children and adults) can be used for children aged 6 months to less than 3 years, following the same schedule of vaccination for older children. The Government already has the relevant vaccines in stock, and the vaccination arrangements will be announced.
 
     For the Comirnaty vaccine, the experts also advised a three-dose series (each dose is one-tenth of that for an adult) to be administered to children aged 6 months to under 5 years. The Government is negotiating with the relevant drug manufacturer on the procurement of the designated paediatric formulation.
 
     The Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases under the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health, joined by the Chief Executive's expert advisory panel, issued the consensus interim recommendations yesterday (August 1) on the use of COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 6 months or above in Hong Kong.

     A Government spokesman said, "According to research conducted by the University of Hong Kong, for children aged below 11 who need to be hospitalised after COVID-19 infection, the risks of admittance to a paediatric intensive care unit and death are 1.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively. The risk of having neurological complications, including encephalitis, is as high as 15 per cent, which is twice of that for seasonal influenza. Other sequelae include 'multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children' and symptoms of 'long COVID', such as damage to the central nervous system, memory loss and insomnia. Recently, several cases involving young children suffering from severe illness or even death after COVID-19 infection were recorded. The situation is of grave concern. The Government attaches great importance to the vaccination for young children, and will strive to provide a wide range of vaccination channels for them to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, thus having early protection in the face of the threat posed by the highly transmissible mutant virus strains."

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (August 2) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Manche Department of France, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the area with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 540 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 25 000 poultry eggs from France in the first six months of this year.

     "The CFS has contacted the French authorities over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreak. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.