The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority today (May 28) 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 hospitals. The hospitals 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.
      
     In addition, a staff member from the Haven of Hope Hospital (HHH) catering department has tested positive through rapid antigen test on May 26. The building he lives in was listed in the compulsory testing notice earlier. The hospital infection control team conducted contact tracing accordingly and has identified four more staff members from the catering department confirmed positive to COVID-19.
      
     These four staff members had meal or stayed in the same accommodation with the confirmed staff. Seven other staff members have been identified as close contacts and will be quarantined.
      
     All staff members working in the catering department wore appropriate personal protective equipment in accordance with infection control guidelines. As precautionary measure, operation of the catering department has been temporarily suspended, thorough cleaning and disinfection has been arranged and environmental samples taken from the department were all tested negative to COVID-19.
      
     The Kowloon East Cluster will support catering services for patients in the HHH and services are not affected.
      
     The HHH will continue to closely monitor the health of the staff and patients and communicate with the Centre for Health Protection about the latest situation.

     The National Security Law (NSL) Legal Forum under the theme "Thrive with Security", organised by the Department of Justice (DoJ), was held today (May 28) to commemorate the second anniversary of the Decision of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Establishing and Improving the Legal System and Enforcement Mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to Safeguard National Security ("528 Decision"). Senior government officials, world-renowned legal and financial experts and academics were invited to share their insights on the NSL and national security issues to enhance the public's understanding of the concept of national security.

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam; Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council Mr Wang Linggui; and Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR Mr Luo Yonggang delivered their welcome remarks at the opening ceremony.

     Deputy Director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC Mr Zhang Yong; the Head of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, Mr Zheng Yanxiong; the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR, Mr Liu Guangyuan; former Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council Mr Deng Zhonghua; and the Secretary for Justice, Ms Teresa Cheng, SC, delivered their keynote speeches at the forum, speaking on the legal basis and significance of the "528 Decision", reviewing the development of the legal system in safeguarding national security in the HKSAR after the enactment and implementation of the NSL, as well as exploring the way forward for further establishment and improvement of the legal system in safeguarding national security in the HKSAR.

     Ms Cheng highlighted that national security is the cornerstone for promoting national prosperity and strength, assuring a good life for the people, maintaining social harmony and stability, and realising "Security brings Prosperity" and "Thrive with Security". She said that the NSL has brought Hong Kong back on track and created a favourable environment for the development of international businesses, trade and finance, legal services, etc. 

     At the three panel sessions, legal and financial experts and academics as well as government officials had in-depth discussions on the comparative study of cases under the NSL and national security cases in foreign jurisdictions, frontier issues in safeguarding national security, and refining the legal framework of the HKSAR on safeguarding national security, sharing their invaluable views and insights on the subjects.

     This is the second NSL legal forum organised by the DoJ, following the success of the one entitled "Security Brings Prosperity" held last year. 

     The Government today (May 28) 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 6.30pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as "persons subject to compulsory testing") within the specified "restricted area" in Chai Wan (i.e. Block 34, Heng Fa Chuen, Chai Wan, excluding car park on the ground floor, 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 (May 29). 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 has set up temporary specimen collection stations at the "restricted area" and requested persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo testing before 11.30pm 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, will not be 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 expires 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 May 22 to May 28, 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 May 30, 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.
 
     For the 2022 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) candidates who are within the "restricted area" and need to sit the HKDSE on the following day, or examination personnel who need to take up invigilation duties for HKDSE on the following day, the Government appeals to them to go to the temporary specimen collection stations setup within the "restricted area" before 8pm today and present to the prescribed officer the relevant documents (including the identification documents and HKDSE admission forms, or a certification letter issued by the school of the examination personnel) proving their identities. These HKDSE candidates and examination personnel will be given priority testing with a view to enabling them to obtain test results on the following day as early as possible. The priority testing arrangement also applies to the family members who live together with these HKDSE candidates and examination personnel, so as to identify those HKDSE candidates and examination personnel who have become close contacts of confirmed cases for making quarantine arrangement.
 
     If any HKDSE candidate or examination personnel needs to leave the "restricted area" for the examination centre before the declaration is revoked, he/she can make a request to the prescribed officers within the "restricted area". The prescribed officer may allow the candidate or the examination personnel to leave the "restricted area" after verifying his/her testing result(s) and recording the relevant information. For the safety of all candidates and examination personnel, only those candidates and examination personnel who have obtained negative test results will be allowed to enter the examination hall. For details, please read the relevant information issued by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority earlier www.hkeaa.edu.hk/DocLibrary/HKDSE/PPT_2022DSE_compulsory_testing_arrangements_eng.pdf.
 
     The Registration and Electoral Office has set up a hotline (Tel: 9624 6511) which starts operation at 6.30pm today for residents restricted by the declaration to make enquiries and seek assistance. The Social Welfare Department will also provide assistance to the affected persons with special needs.

     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 would 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.

     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 (May 28) that Shenzhen operated 67 cargo vessel trips and transported around 6 010 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cross-boundary supplies by water yesterday (May 27), equivalent to about 21 460 tonnes of goods, of which around 10 TEUs (about 30 tonnes) were fresh food and around 6 000 TEUs (about 21 430 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 438 870 TEUs of cross-boundary supplies have been transported, equivalent to about 2 197 910 tonnes of goods, of which around 1 770 TEUs (about 15 090 tonnes) were fresh food and around 437 100 TEUs (about 2 182 820 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 3 207 rapid nucleic acid tests were conducted yesterday in which nine 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.

     The Government announced today (May 28) that in order to fight the coronavirus epidemic, the Environmental Protection Department and the Drainage Services Department have been collecting sewage samples for virus testing in all districts, and had detected positive results in some areas, indicating that there may be hidden cases in the premises within these areas.
 
Rapid test
 
     As regards positive sewage testing results with relatively high viral loads in the following areas, the Housing Department and the respective District Offices will commence distributing about 140 000 sets of the COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits to residents, cleaning workers and property management staff working in the following areas for them to take the test on their own, in order to help identify infected persons:
 

• Kowloon City District –Sky Tower, Majestic Park, Ma Tau Wai Estate; residential premises around Pak Tai Street, San Shan Road and Ma Tau Kok Road (see Annex)
• Yuen Long District – Long Ping Estate

     Members of the public may refer to (www.coronavirus.gov.hk/rat/eng/rat.html) for enquiries relating to the use of the RAT kits.

     When using an RAT kit, please pay attention to and follow the instructions from the manufacturer to perform the test and read the result properly. It is advisable to record the displayed result by taking a photo immediately after reading. Users should wash their hands before and after performing the tests, and avoid placing non-essential items within the specimen collection area. After completing the test, wrap and seal all components of the test kit carefully and dispose of them properly. If the household environment is contaminated during the specimen collecting process, disinfection should be conducted with 1 in 49 diluted bleach solution or 70 per cent alcohol.
 
     People who obtained a positive result through an RAT for the first time can report via the online platform "Declaration System for individuals tested positive for COVID-19 using Rapid Antigen Test" (www.chp.gov.hk/ratp/). If individuals encounter difficulties using the online platform, they can call the automated system at 183 6119 to register their identification document and telephone number. The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health will contact the relevant person later to finish the report procedure.