The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has all along been committed to combating the sale of chilled or frozen meat disguised as fresh meat, and in a blitz operation today (June 8) raided a licensed fresh provision shop (FPS) in the Chai Wan district suspected of selling chilled meat as fresh meat. 

     During the operation, FEHD officers raided a licensed FPS at Siu Sai Wan Road, Chai Wan, and destroyed about 178 kilograms of suspected chilled meat found. The licensee of the FPS is suspected of breaching the licensing condition for the display and sale of chilled meat as fresh meat, and the FEHD is proceeding with the cancellation of the FPS licence. 

     In addition, FEHD officers also initiated two prosecutions against the licensee of the FPS for dirtiness of the premises and dirty equipment. At the same time, FEHD officers also collected a pork sample for testing of preservatives and prosecution will be initiated for any contravention of relevant legislation. 

     A spokesman for the FEHD said, "Selling of chilled or frozen meat disguised as fresh meat breaches the licensing condition and causes food safety problems. Also, the operation of these profiteers is unfair to other shops that comply with the requirements."

     The spokesman added, "Anyone selling chilled or frozen meat without permission commits an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and six months' imprisonment on conviction. The department will continue to conduct regular inspections at licensed FPSs and market meat stalls, and will actively handle the complaints received. In detecting any irregularities, the FEHD will carry out immediate investigation and take appropriate enforcement action. In addition, the FEHD also proactively investigates suspected violations from time to time and conducts surprise inspections and enforcement action as necessary. If there is sufficient evidence, prosecutions will be initiated and follow-up action will be taken on the breach of licensing conditions or tenancy agreements. The licences of fresh provision shops breaching the licensing conditions may be cancelled, while the tenancies of market meat stalls breaching the tenancy agreements may be terminated."

     The spokesman stressed that the FEHD is very concerned and has been committed to combating the sale of chilled or frozen meat disguised as fresh meat by taking stringent enforcement action against the violations.

  

     The Government today (June 8) exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) to make a "restriction-testing declaration" (declaration) effective from 6pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as "persons subject to compulsory testing") within the specified "restricted area" in Ma On Shan (i.e. Tower 1, Lake Silver, Ma On Shan, and certain designated area of the podium; excluding levels below the podium, see Annex) are required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing. Persons subject to compulsory testing are required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the "restricted area" have undergone testing and the test results are mostly ascertained. The Government aims at finishing this exercise at around 11am tomorrow (June 9). The operation may be extended depending on test results.
 
     A Government spokesman said, "Under Cap. 599J, the Government can, according to the needs of infection control, make a 'restriction-testing declaration'. Having reviewed a basket of factors, including the viral load in sewage, the information of relevant positive cases, and other circumstantial factors, and conducted a risk assessment, the Government decided to make a 'restriction-testing declaration' for the relevant area."
 
     The Government will set up temporary specimen collection stations at the "restricted area" and request persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo testing before 11pm today. Arrangements will be made for persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo a nucleic acid test at specimen collection stations where dedicated staff will collect samples through combined nasal and throat swabs. Persons subject to compulsory testing must stay at their place of residence until all test results are ascertained to avoid cross-infection risk. The Government will make arrangement to facilitate specimen collection for people with impaired mobility. All persons in the "restricted area" who have tested positive in the past 14 days, including positive cases identified either by nucleic acid tests recorded by the Department of Health (DH) or by rapid antigen tests that have been self-declared to the DH, are not required to undergo testing in this compulsory testing exercise.
 
     The Government spokesman said, "We understand that this exercise will cause inconvenience to the public. The Government has made arrangements to carry out testing for all persons present in the 'restricted area' as soon as possible. The aim is to strive to complete testing of all identified persons subject to compulsory testing and confirm the results, and finish the exercise at around 11am tomorrow. The Government will make a public announcement when the declaration is revoked officially. In the cases in which employees are unable to go to work because of the declaration, the Government hopes their employers can exercise discretion and not deduct the salaries or benefits of the employees."
 
     If staying in the "restricted area" will cause unreasonable hardship to individuals who are not residents in the area when the declaration takes effect, government officers may exercise discretion and allow that person to leave the area after considering the individual circumstances. That person must have followed the instructions to undergo testing and leave his/her personal information for contact purposes.
 
     According to the compulsory testing notice to be issued today, any persons other than those specified above who had been present at the above building for more than two hours from June 2 to June 8, 2022, even if they were not present in the "restricted area" at the time when the declaration took effect, must undergo compulsory testing on or before June 10, 2022. As a mutant strain is involved, for prudence's sake, vaccinated persons and persons who have recently been tested are also required to undergo testing.
 
     The Government appeals to persons subject to compulsory testing for their full co-operation by registering and undergoing testing, and waiting for the results patiently at home. The Government will strictly follow up on whether the persons concerned have complied with the compulsory testing notices and "restriction-testing declaration". Any person who fails to comply with the compulsory testing notices commits an offence and may be fined a fixed penalty of $10,000. The person will also be issued with a compulsory testing order requiring him or her to undergo testing within a specified time frame. Failure to comply with the compulsory testing order or the "restriction-testing declaration" is an offence and the offender would be liable to a fine at level 5 ($50,000) and imprisonment for six months.

     A 72-year-old man was fined $5,000 by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (June 8) for violating the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C).

     The man was earlier issued a compulsory quarantine order stating that he must conduct quarantine at home for 14 days. Before the expiry of the quarantine order, he left the place of quarantine on July 13, 2021, without reasonable excuse nor permission given by an authorised officer. He was charged with contravening sections 8(1) and 8(5) of the Regulation and was fined $5,000 by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today.
 
     Breaching a compulsory quarantine order is a criminal offence and offenders are subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months. A spokesman for the Department of Health said the sentence sends a clear message to the community that breaching a quarantine order is a criminal offence that the Government will not tolerate, and solemnly reminded the public to comply with the regulations. As of today, a total of 242 persons have been convicted by the courts for breaching compulsory quarantine orders and have received sentences including immediate imprisonment for up to 14 weeks or a fine of up to $15,000. The spokesman reiterated that resolute actions will be taken against anyone who has breached the relevant regulations.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority today (June 8) 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:
 

     Thorough cleaning and disinfection operations have been performed in the affected areas by the hospital. The hospital will continue to closely monitor the health conditions of patients and staff members, and communicate with the Centre for Health Protection on the latest situation.

     There have been no clusters of nosocomial infection cases reported in public hospitals today.

     The Task Force of Supplies from the Mainland led by the Transport and Housing Bureau (THB) 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. In addition to road transport arrangements, transportation of goods by water and railway is already in service.
 
     A spokesperson for the THB 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.
 
     Currently, there are three water transportation routes between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, namely (1) from Shenzhen Yantian International Container Terminals to Hong Kong Kwai Tsing Container Terminals (KTCT); (2) from Shenzhen DaChan Bay Terminals to KTCT; and (3) from China Merchants Port (South China) Management Center (Shenzhen Mawan, Shekou and Chiwan Container Terminals) to Hong Kong River Trade Terminal and elsewhere. Together with the water transportation routes from other cities in Guangdong Province, including the routes from Guangzhou Lianhuashan Port, Nansha Port, Huadu Port, Zhongshan Huangpu Port and Zhuhai Doumen Port to different terminals in Hong Kong, the water transport capacity amounts to tens of thousands of tonnes daily.
 
     The spokesperson said today (June 8) that Shenzhen operated 45 cargo vessel trips and transported around 3 830 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cross-boundary supplies by water yesterday (June 7), equivalent to about 22 910 tonnes of goods, of which around 10 TEUs (about 60 tonnes) were fresh food and around 3 820 TEUs (about 22 850 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 500 950 TEUs of cross-boundary supplies have been transported, equivalent to about 2 480 840 tonnes of goods, of which around 1 850 TEUs (about 15 770 tonnes) were fresh food and around 499 100 TEUs (about 2 465 070 tonnes) were non-fresh food.
 
     To further ensure a stable goods supply to Hong Kong through land transport, a trial run of cargo transfer was conducted by the THB at a yard situated on Kam Pok Road, San Tin, Yuen Long, and it was completed smoothly. The THB will continue to work with the Mainland authorities to fully take forward cargo transfer arrangements on the Hong Kong side. It is a contingency measure in response to the latest epidemic situation in the city so as to reduce the risk of epidemic transmission in both the Mainland and Hong Kong, ensuring both smooth cross-boundary land transport and a stable goods supply to Hong Kong.
 
     Meanwhile, to avoid a spillover of the epidemic, the Transport Department (TD) has arranged for dedicated staff to conduct rapid antigen tests for cross-boundary goods vehicle drivers at various land boundary control points (BCPs) from February 28 onwards. Only drivers with a negative result are allowed to enter the Mainland. In order to further improve the accuracy of the tests, the TD has already switched to use rapid nucleic acid tests at the BCPs. Starting from April 21, the sampling method for rapid nucleic acid tests has been further changed to nasopharyngeal swabs. A total of 3 474 rapid nucleic acid tests were conducted yesterday in which eight drivers preliminarily tested positive. The TD has passed the cases to the Department of Health for follow-up.
 
     The THB will closely monitor the situation and co-operate with the Mainland authorities to facilitate and implement various measures to ensure a stable goods supply to Hong Kong, with a view to complementing the supply through road, water and railway transport, enhancing capacity and efficiency as well as optimising the flow of cross-boundary supplies.