â€‹Hong Kong Customs yesterday (May 21) and today (May 22) raided three suspected illicit cigarette storehouses in Chai Wan and Ap Lei Chau. A total of about 28 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $77 million and a duty potential of about $53 million were seized, making it the largest illicit cigarette storage case detected by Customs in the past 21 years.

     During an anti-illicit cigarette operation mounted in Chai Wan last night, Customs officers seized about eight million suspected illicit cigarettes inside an industrial building unit and a lorry. Three men, aged between 28 and 53, suspected to be in connection with the case were arrested.

     After follow-up investigation, Customs officers further seized about 20 million suspected illicit cigarettes from another two industrial building units in Chai Wan and Ap Lei Chau in the early hours today.

     An investigation is ongoing. Customs will continue to trace the source and the flow of the illicit cigarettes. The likelihood of further arrests is not ruled out.

     The three arrested men were charged with "dealing with goods to which the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance applies" and will appear at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (May 23).

     Customs will continue its risk assessment and intelligence analysis for interception at source as well as through its multi-pronged enforcement strategy targeting storage, distribution and peddling to spare no effort in combating illicit cigarette activities.

     Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

     Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, anyone involved in dealing with, possession of, selling or buying illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

        

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
 
     As at 0.00am today (May 22), a total of 512 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 are currently hospitalised for treatment, including 37 new patients. Among the patients staying in isolation facilities, 90 patients are in isolation wards, 20 patients are in second-tier isolation wards and 44 patients are in the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, of which 16 in total are new patients. The rest of the confirmed patients are hospitalised or readmitted due to other medical reasons. Those patients have recovered and are non-infectious, and therefore do not need to be treated in isolation facilities. Among the hospitalised patients, nine of them are in critical condition and nine are in serious condition, of which three critical patients are receiving intensive care. There were 56 patients who have recovered, including 47 patients who have been discharged. In addition, no confirmed patient passed away in public hospitals yesterday.
      
     In the fifth wave of the epidemic, there are 49 818 patients who have recovered so far, including 49 519 patients who have been discharged. And since early 2020, there are 62 198 patients who have recovered, including 61 899 patients who have been discharged.
      
     The Hospital Authority will maintain close contact with the Centre for Health Protection to monitor the latest developments and to inform the public and healthcare workers on the latest information in a timely manner.

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (May 22) announced the latest epidemic situation of COVID-19. As of 0.00am, May 22, the CHP was investigating 94 additional cases that tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus by nucleic acid tests (31 confirmed cases, 49 asymptomatic cases and 14 cases with pending case status) in the past 24 hours. Separately, 143 additional positive cases through rapid antigen tests (RATs) (71 symptomatic cases and 72 asymptomatic cases) were reported. Hong Kong has recorded a total of 761 222 and 449 174 cases that have tested positive by nucleic acid tests and RATs respectively for the SARS-CoV-2 virus so far.

     The aforementioned newly reported cases consist of 25 imported cases (18 cases and seven cases tested positive by nucleic acid tests and RATs respectively). The CHP is continuing with epidemiological investigations on the cases. Please refer to the "COVID-19 Thematic Website" (www.coronavirus.gov.hk) for more information.

     In addition, as of 0.00am, May 22, a total of 9 157 death cases that had tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the fifth wave (since December 31, 2021) were recorded (i.e. no new reported cases), with 9 079 and 75 deaths reported from the Hospital Authority and public mortuaries respectively as well as three deaths reported from the Chinese University of Hong Kong Medical Centre. Hong Kong has so far recorded a total of 9 370 death cases that have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

     Furthermore, among the earlier cases by nucleic acid tests reported, there were cases (including pending cases) changed to confirmed, asymptomatic or re-positive cases. As at yesterday (May 21), the total number of confirmed cases was 331 963, while the figures for asymptomatic cases, re-positive cases and pending/unknown cases recorded since January 1 were 198 621, 23 and 230 521 respectively.

     The spokesman for the CHP stressed that as the local situation of COVID-19 infection is still severe, the CHP strongly appeals to the community to continue to comply with social distancing measures, avoid going out and refrain from participating in unnecessary or crowded activities or gatherings. This would lower the risk of infection and prevent the virus from spreading in the community.

     â€‹â€‹The spokesman reminded that COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe cases and deaths from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They can provide effective protection to those vaccinated in preventing serious complications and even death after infection. People who have yet to receive vaccination, especially senior citizens, chronic patients and other immunocompromised persons who face a higher chance of death after COVID-19 infection, should get vaccinated as early as possible for self-protection and to reduce the risk of falling seriously ill and death should they get infected.

     The 3rd Barcelona Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Festival (the Festival) was held on May 21-22 (Barcelona Time) in Castelldefels, Barcelona in Spain.  The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) and the Castelldefels City Council were the main sponsors of the event. 

     The Festival is one of the celebration events of the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.  Participants from over 20 Dragon Boat teams in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America took part in the competitions in the Festival.  Apart from participating in the competitions, visitors were welcomed to experience the fun of the sport by rowing in the dragon boat sponsored by HKETO, Brussels.

     At the evening party of the Festival on May 21 for around 200 guests, the Deputy Representative of HKETO, Brussels, Ms Grace Li, presented HKETO special awards to the two teams with the highest number of participants. 

     Originally an ancient Chinese ceremonial tradition, Dragon Boat racing is emerging as a popular activity around the world.  It is an exciting sporting competition, great at creating bonds between people from all corners of the world, signifying the importance of collaboration.  Above all, it is a lot of fun and very inclusive – any group of friends can make up a team and have a go.  "The Dragon Boat racing is the best example of traditional Chinese culture and modern living style in perfect unison.  I hope that the Barcelona Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Festival will inspire you to come and visit Hong Kong to experience our unique East-meets-West cultural heritage at first hand," Ms Li concluded.   
     

    

     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 22) that Shenzhen operated 61 cargo vessel trips and transported around 7 290 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cross-boundary supplies by water yesterday (May 21), equivalent to about 27 470 tonnes of goods, of which around 30 TEUs (about 160 tonnes) were fresh food and around 7 260 TEUs (about 27 310 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 400 070 TEUs of cross-boundary supplies have been transported, equivalent to about 2 022 070 tonnes of goods, of which around 1 740 TEUs (about 14 910 tonnes) were fresh food and around 398 330 TEUs (about 2 007 160 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 2 464 rapid nucleic acid tests were conducted yesterday in which 15 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.