Author Archives: hksar gov

     In view of the latest local epidemic situation, the Government has announced that bureaux and departments will expand the special work arrangements tomorrow (February 4). A spokesperson from the Social Welfare Department (SWD) said today (February 3) that the following special arrangements for subsidised welfare services and services of the SWD will continue to be implemented starting from tomorrow:

     (1) All day care centres or units for the elderly, sheltered workshops, integrated vocational rehabilitation services centres, integrated vocational training centres, day activity centres and day care services attached to care and attention homes for severely disabled persons will remain open with scaled-down capacity (i.e. about 50 per cent attendance to sustain the rehabilitation and training needs of service users and to relieve the burden of carers).

     (2) Apart from (a) and (j) which are provided as normal, the other services will be provided on a limited scale as stated below. Group activities may be conducted online, whereas mass programmes will be suspended. Services include:

a. Residential care services;
b. Integrated Family Service Centres (providing casework service);
c. Integrated Services Centres (providing casework service);
d. Short-term Food Assistance Service;
e. Integrated Home Care Services (providing services including meals, escort, nursing, administration of medicine, assistance with personal hygiene and procurement of necessities);
f. Enhanced Home and Community Care Services (providing services including meals, escort, nursing, administration of medicine, assistance with personal hygiene and procurement of necessities);
g. Home Care Service for Persons with Severe Disabilities (providing services including escort, nursing, administration of medicine, assistance with personal hygiene and procurement of necessities);
h. Integrated Support Service for Persons with Severe Physical Disabilities (providing services including escort, nursing, administration of medicine, assistance with personal hygiene and procurement of necessities);
i. Visiting Medical Practitioner Service for Residential Care Homes;
j. Hotline services;
k. Specialised Co-parenting Support Centres; and
l. Humanitarian Assistance for Non-refoulement Claimants.

     Areas within the above service units designated for public use, such as resource corners and game corners, will temporarily be closed.

     (3) Centre-based services subsidised by the SWD, such as district elderly community centres, neighbourhood elderly centres, social and recreational centres for persons with disabilities, district support centres for persons with disabilities, integrated children and youth services centres, children and youth centres, community centres, and integrated community centres for mental wellness, will only operate on a limited scale (such as provision of meal service through distributing meal boxes in some elderly centres and advising the elderly not to eat in groups inside the centres and provision of standardised care need assessment for elderly services) in order to reduce the risk of infection arising from the gathering of people. Group activities of the centres might be conducted online, whereas mass programmes and drop-in services will not be provided at this stage.

     (4) Operators of pre-school rehabilitation services (including special child care centres) may arrange appropriate modes of individual training, such as centre-based training, e-learning and home training, for service users having regard to the epidemic situation, service users’ circumstances and their parents’ preference.

     (5) The SWD-subsidised multi-disciplinary outreaching support teams for the elderly and professional outreaching teams for private residential care homes for persons with disabilities will maintain their services, including visits to residential care homes or the provision of training and support services through other modes.

     (6) For other services not covered by (1) to (5) above, non-governmental organisations operating them may decide whether to continue to provide them under their respective Funding and Service Agreements having regard to their circumstances.

     While the aforementioned arrangements will continue until further notice, the special service arrangements of aided child care centres will remain until February 21 as all kindergartens as well as primary and secondary schools will suspend face-to-face classes until February 21. Service operators should keep their service users informed of the latest arrangements and provide suitable personal protective equipment for their staff having regard to the relevant guidelines issued by the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health. They should step up measures to prevent communicable diseases, including keeping the premises hygienic and clean, requiring service users and staff to wear masks and to wash hands with alcohol-based hand rub, and enhancing measures on the screening of body temperature.

     Regarding the SWD’s own services, the SWD’s service units providing direct public services for members of the public will maintain their provision of emergency services and essential services. Departmental hotline services will be in operation as normal. Other services such as those of Integrated Family Service Centres and Social Security Service Units will continue to be open to the public. The Integrated Family Service Centres will provide casework service as well as group work service on a limited scale, with extended hours of service to be provided through telephone. For social security applications, relevant application forms are also provided next to the drop boxes of Social Security Field Units and can be downloaded from the SWD’s website (www.swd.gov.hk). Completed forms can be returned to the relevant Social Security Field Units by post, fax or email or through drop boxes of the Social Security Field Units. After receiving the applications, the staff of the Social Security Field Units will contact applicants for processing their applications. For enquiries, please call the staff on duty during office hours.

     Service users are advised to call the hotline number 2343 2255 for details of the service provision. To reduce the risk of infection arising from the gathering of people, service users are advised to contact the staff of service units by telephone in advance, so that interviews can be scheduled as appropriate. All visitors must wear masks, have their body temperature checked and maintain social distancing.

     Meanwhile, the SWD has strengthened infection control at all service units. Staff will be reminded to take necessary infection control measures. The SWD also appealed to workers of the sector to get vaccinated as soon as possible in order to protect themselves as well as their family, colleagues and service users. They should also undergo testing at an appropriate juncture. read more

     In light of the latest developments of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Drainage Services Department (DSD) announced today (February 3) that starting tomorrow (February 4), except anti-epidemic related services,  it will only maintain emergency and essential public services until further notice. These services include the 24-hour DSD Drainage Hotline (2300 1110), the inspection of drainage records and the handling of Sewage Charges/Trade Effluent Surcharge matters. Members of the public are advised to minimise their usage of the above services unless under emergency or necessary situations. The public is also advised that the handling time of the above services will be longer than usual. All enquiry phone lines and reception services will be suspended temporarily.
     
     Starting tomorrow, the service hours for inspection of drainage records, and the offices at the four locations listed below which provide receipt and dispatch services, will only be on Monday to Friday, from 10am to noon and from 2pm to 4pm.
   
– 43/F, Revenue Tower, 5 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
– 12/F, Kowloon Government Offices, 405 Nathan Road, Kowloon
– 23/F, 1063 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
– G/F, Western Magistracy Building, 2A Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong
(Deposit boxes will be available at the above four locations and at the gate of Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works outside the opening hours for receiving documents.)
 
     DSD facilities will continue to be closed for public visits and other educational purposes until further notice. read more

     To tie in with the Government’s announcement about expansion of special work arrangement for government employees and the continued provision of emergency and essential public services, Hongkong Post announced today (February 3) that, the closing hours of the General Post Office and Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office on February 5 (Saturday), will be advanced to 1pm while their opening hours remain unchanged. General Post Office will be closed on February 6 (Sunday). Business hours of other post offices remain unchanged.  
      
     For enquiry, members of the public may call the Hongkong Post enquiry hotline at 2921 2222.
  read more

     In view of the severity of the local epidemic situation, the Government needs to take measures to significantly reduce the flow of people and social contacts to stop the virus from spreading in the community.  The Buildings Department (BD) announced today (February 3) that it will continue to provide emergency and essential public services starting from tomorrow (February 4) until February 11. The services will be mainly handling public reports on building safety and unauthorised building works in progress, statutory submissions for new developments, registration of contractors, advisory services for licensing authorities, and implementation of Operation Building Bright 2.0.
 
     Submission of the following applications and documents in person should be through:
 

1. A drop-in box located at G/F, BD Headquarters, North Tower, West Kowloon Government Offices, 11 Hoi Ting Road, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, for documents from members of the public from 8:30am to 5:30pm from Monday to Friday. BD will issue receipts/acknowledgements of submissions in due course;
2. A tender/quotation box located at G/F, BD Headquarters for tender/quotation documents from 8.30am to 5.30pm from Monday to Friday; and
3. The receipt and dispatch counter at the office of the BD’s New Buildings Division on 7/F, 14 Taikoo Wan Road, Taikoo Shing, Hong Kong for collection of statutory applications and related documents and forms for new building works from 9.30am to 4.30pm from Monday to Friday.

 
     Under the special work arrangements, the handling time of the BD’s services may be longer than usual.
      
     The Building Information Centre at 2/F of the BD Headquarters (a hotline on 3842 5375 has been set up to handle enquiries on requests for inspection of building records), the receipt counter and general enquiry counter at G/F of the BD Headquarters and all meeting rooms of the BD will not be open to the public until further notice. All appointments, meetings (except meetings essential to meet statutory requirements such as Minor Works Contractor Registration Committee meetings) and inspections scheduled for the period will be rescheduled to later dates and the individuals concerned will be notified in due course.
      
     The BD appeals to the public to minimise visiting the department’s offices in person unless they genuinely require its public services urgently. The public may call 1823 to make emergency reports. For general enquiries and reports, members of the public may call 1823 or inform the department by email (enquiry@bd.gov.hk), online reporting (eform.one.gov.hk/form/bd0001/en), fax (2537 4992) or post (North Tower, West Kowloon Government Offices, 11 Hoi Ting Road, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon). In addition, electronic information can be submitted to the BD via receipt@bd.gov.hk. read more

     In view of the severe local epidemic situation and to reduce the flow of people and social contact, the Information Services Department (ISD) today (February 3) announced that the sales counter services of the department’s Publications Sales Unit and Photo Library at North Point Government Offices will be temporarily suspended from tomorrow (February 4) until further notice.

     The public can continue to buy government publications through the online Government Bookstore (www.bookstore.gov.hk) and by:

     * calling the Publications Sales Unit on 2537 1910;
     * downloading an order form from the ISD website (www.isd.gov.hk) and submitting the form online or by fax to 2523 7195; or
     * emailing puborder@isd.gov.hk.

     Government photos can be purchased from the online Government Photo Store (www.photostore.gov.hk). read more