The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
 
     The Hospital Authority today (July 30) announced information regarding patients who tested positive via admission screening or testing with patients or staff members identified as close contacts and nosocomial COVID-19 infection cases.

     The following are the statistics of patients who tested positive via admission screening or by testing in public hospitals with patients or staff members identified as close contacts:
 

 
     In addition, a 94-year-old male patient in a Medicine and Geriatrics ward of Princess Margaret Hospital was tested positive for COVID-19 via testing on July 26. Through contact tracing by the hospital, a 65-year-old male patient who had stayed in the same Medicine and Geriatrics ward with the patient concerned was tested positive for COVID-19 on July 27. Both cases were announced by the hospital on July 28. The hospital commenced a contact tracing investigation and found three more patients (aged 64 to 82) and a student nurse in the same ward with the 65-year-old male patient tested positive for COVID-19 since July 28. The student nurse concerned is in stable condition, while all five patients are currently treated under isolation with stable conditions.

     Furthermore, a staff member of a post-admission ward of Kwai Chung Hospital tested positive for COVID-19 on July 20. Three female patients (aged 52 to 59) in the same ward subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. The hospital is investigating the linkage among the cases concerned. The patients concerned have been transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital for isolation treatment and are in stable condition. The staff member concerned is also in stable condition. Two patients in the same ward are identified as close contacts. Patients and staff member of the concerned ward have been arranged for testing.

     Admission and visiting arrangement for the aforementioned wards have been suspended. Thorough cleaning and disinfection have been conducted in the wards concerned. The hospitals will continue to monitor the health condition of patients and staff members closely, and communicate with the Centre for Health Protection on the latest situation.

     Police are investigating a manslaughter case happened in Central today (July 30) in which a 40-year-old local man died.

     At 1.27am, Police received a report from a staff of hotel on Hollywood Road that a 40-year-old man was lying unconscious in a hotel room.

     Police officers sped to the scene and found the 40-year-old man lying unconscious in the bathroom. Sustaining no superficial injury, he was certified dead at scene.

     A small quantity of suspected drugs in suspected connection with the case was seized.

     Police arrested a 38-year-old foreign man in suspected connection with the case for manslaughter at the aforesaid location. A 44-year-old local man in suspected connection with the case was later arrested for manslaughter in Aberdeen. Both arrestees are being detained for enquiries.

     Post-mortem examinations will be conducted later to ascertain the cause of death of the deceased.

     Active investigation by the District Crime Squad of Central District is underway.

     Police today (July 30) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Ngau Tau Kok.

     Hui Po-tai, aged 95, went missing after he left his residence in Tak Long Estate yesterday morning (July 29). His family reported to the Police on the same day.

     He is about 1.78 metres tall, 70 kilograms in weight and of medium build. He has a long face with yellow complexion and short white hair. He was last seen wearing a grey short-sleeved top, black trousers and black shoes.

     Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing man or may have seen him is urged to contact the Regional Missing Person Unit of Kowloon East on 3661 0321 or 9020 2746 or email to rmpu-ke-2@police.gov.hk, or contact any police station.
 

  

     â€‹Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, at a media session after attending a radio programme today (July 30):
 
Reporter: Mr Tse, please explain why does the Government has the idea of trying to rezone the conservation area? What task does the Government want to achieve with those idea?
 
Secretary for Environment and Ecology: I think I have explained that in a lengthy way before your arrival. In Hong Kong, I can see that our conservation strategy is facing a lot of stress because of two issues, one is that in the past our conservation strategy is done by assigning certain land to be undeveloped. For example, through the planning process, we may assign certain piece of land to be a conservation area. In that area, no development will be allowed. Of course that has served the purpose of conservation to some extent, but actually we have also seen that because of lack of management and lack of attention, the conservation value of that piece of land can be deteriorating. Nam Sang Wai is a very good example. If you go there, you can see that many of those fish ponds have dried up, many have been filled up with earth and a lot of wetland has disappeared. In the past, that sort of what I called it "passive approach" of conservation does not work very well in Hong Kong.
 
     The second angle is that Hong Kong is a city where land is very scarce. We need land for development and if we do nothing and continue our current approach of conservation, then conservation will be under a lot of pressure. Sometimes some conservation areas under debate that the areas have been protected and people have lost that piece of land for development. Sometimes some lands under debate and argument are used for development and those opt for and support conservation will feel that they have lost a battle. I think this is not a good approach from conservation angle, I called it a lose-lose situation. Therefore, Hong Kong should go for a new approach, which I call it "proactive conservation". Under that strategy, we should identify those areas with high conservation value and try to recover the adjacent land which have been abandoned and deteriorated, and as such have lose its conservation value. We should recover those areas so that we can form a contiguous and larger piece of land for conservation.
 
     I have spoken to several ecologists and they agreed that it would be much better from a conservation point of view that these land to be conserved should be continued and under certain management, so that it would not deteriorate in the longer term. Therefore, if we go for "proactive conservation" approach, it will help enhance our ecological protection, so that at the end we will have a better biodiversity in Hong Kong. For the special species protected, it will become more prosperous.
 
     In fact, along that principle, we will be able to identify the land to be protected, and the rest will be outside our new protection area, that is what we are doing for the Northern Metropolis. Through a study being conducted by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, they are trying to identify the land to be protected so that we will form a big wetland park around 2 000 hectares. Through the study, they will identify where should be the core area to be protected, where should be assigned as the adjacent land to be recovered and where should be the boundary of the new wetland park. After the study, we can define the boundary of the wetland park.
 
     The boundary of the wetland park may not be the same as the current boundary of wetland protection area or wetland buffer area. You mentioned whether we are going to redraw the boundary. It may happen because of the new boundary of the wetland park. We are not redrawing it for the purpose of development, rather, we are going to redraw the boundary because of the new wetland park.
 
 (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

     In light of positive test results for the COVID-19 virus from sewage samples collected in Kwun Tong and Southern Districts, the Home Affairs Department (HAD) said today (July 30) that the Kwun Tong District Office (KTDO) and the Southern District Office (SDO) have distributed a total of about 94 000 COVID-19 rapid test kits to households, cleansing workers and property management staff living and working in the Districts.

     The KTDO started distributing rapid test kits to households, cleansing workers and property management staff living and working in Hiu Lai Court, Hiu Wah Building and Hing Tin Estate for voluntary testing through the property management companies.

     In addition, the SDO distributed rapid test kits to households, cleansing workers and property management staff living and working in residential premises around Aberdeen Main Road and Yue Fai Road for voluntary testing through the property management companies.

     The HAD made the above arrangements in the hope of identifying infected persons early.

     Members of the public may refer to the demonstration video produced by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) under the Department of Health (DH) via www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzFAUzTtmKk to learn how to use the rapid antigen test (RAT) kit.

     Persons testing positive through an RAT should take a photo of the test result and declare the result within 24 hours via the Declaration System for Individuals Tested Positive for COVID-19 Using Rapid Antigen Test (www.chp.gov.hk/ratp). If members of the public encounter difficulties in using the online platform, they can call the automated system at 183 6119 to register their identification document and telephone number. The CHP under the DH will contact the relevant person later to complete the report procedure. There is no need to declare negative test results.

     The Government appeals for the co-operation of members of the public to safeguard the health of themselves and their families by undergoing testing on a voluntary basis and fighting the virus together. The Government urges all individuals who are in doubt about their own health condition, or individuals with infection risks (such as individuals who visited places with epidemic outbreaks or had contact with cases that tested positive), to undergo testing promptly for early identification of infected persons to reduce the transmission risks of COVID-19.