The Government today (January 26) 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 8.30pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as "persons subject to compulsory testing") within the specified "restricted area" in Wong Tai Sin District (i.e. Cheung Bor House, Choi Wan (I) Estate. 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 about 7am tomorrow (January 27).
          
     A Government spokesman said, "Under Cap. 599J, the Government can, according to the needs of infection control, make a 'restriction-testing declaration'. As some cases tested positive who have lived in the abovementioned building were detected recently, and the test results involved mutant strain, the risk of infection in the relevant area is assessed to be likely higher, so 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 midnight. Arrangements have been 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 arrange for door-to-door specimen collection for people with impaired mobility and elderly persons.
          
     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 7am 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 person who had been present at the above building for more than two hours from January 18, 2022 to January 26, 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 January 28, 2022. As a mutant strain is involved, and having considered relevant infection risks, for prudence's sake, vaccinated persons and persons who have recently been tested are also required to undergo testing.
 
     In addition, in accordance with the latest arrangement, persons who resided in the same building as the case tested preliminarily positive involving mutant strain are required to undergo compulsory testing on days 2, 3, 4 and 7 counting from the day subsequent to that when the relevant confirmed case last stayed in that building before being admitted to hospital for treatment or leaving Hong Kong.
 
     The Housing Department has set up a hotline (Tel: 2750 7211) which started operation at 8.30pm today for residents restricted by the declaration to make enquiries and seek assistance. The Social Welfare Department also provides assistance to the affected persons.
          
     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 $5,000. 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 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months.

     A 32-year-old male police constable who is posted to the Police Tactical Units of the New Territories South Regional Headquarters and a 54-year-old female police constable who is posted to the District Intelligence Squad of Sau Mau Ping District, preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19. They were arranged for COVID-19 test. They were preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19 today (January 26). They have no travel history in the past 14 days. They wore face masks during their tour of duty. Their last working day were January 21 and 23 respectively.

     Police are highly concerned and have the following messages:

     (1) While awaiting further assessment and recommendation by the Department of Health (DH), all police officers and civilian staff who might have been in contact with the officer concerned have been arranged to undergo COVID-19 test as instructed by the DH;

     (2) All facilities in the office concerned have been sterilised;

     (3) All officers have been reminded to reduce social contact to minimise risks of infection, and to pay attention to physical health. If feeling unwell, they should consult a doctor and report the case immediately;

     (4) Police will deploy resources flexibly to ensure provision of policing services of the areas concerned remains unaffected.

     Police will maintain close communication with the DH and provide assistance in tracing the pathology, by proactively providing information such as the duty record and roster of the officer concerned. Arrangements will be made for close contacts to be conveyed to quarantine centres to undergo quarantine.
     

     A carcass of a Eurasian Curlew found in the Mai Po Nature Reserve (MPNR) was confirmed to be positive for the H5N1 avian influenza (AI) virus after laboratory testing, a spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said today (January 26).

     The bird carcass was found and collected earlier at a gei wai in the MPNR and preliminarily tested positive for H5 AI virus on January 24. The Eurasian Curlew is a winter visitor mainly found in the intertidal area of Deep Bay area, including Mai Po.

     The spokesman said cleaning and disinfection of visitor facilities including bird hides and boardwalk has been stepped up. Disinfectant carpet has been placed at the entrance of the MPNR for visitors to disinfect the soles of their shoes. In addition, the AFCD is closely monitoring the situation of the birds in the MPNR and has put up notices to remind visitors to pay attention to personal hygiene.

     There are no chicken farms within three kilometres of where the dead bird was found. Since the beginning of winter, the AFCD has strengthened AI surveillance and closely monitored the situation of the local poultry farms and the wholesale market. Poultry farmers, pet bird shop owners and licence holders of pet poultry and racing pigeons are reminded from time to time to ensure that proper precautions against AI have been implemented.

     The spokesman said that the department will closely monitor poultry farms and the wholesale market to ensure that proper precautions against AI have been taken and will continue its wild bird monitoring and surveillance.

     "People should avoid personal contact with wild birds and live poultry and their droppings. They should clean their hands thoroughly after coming into contact with them. The public can call 1823 for AFCD's follow-up if they come across suspicious, sick or dead birds, including the carcasses of wild birds and poultry," the spokesman said.

     The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) will continue to be vigilant over live poultry stalls. It will also remind stall operators to maintain good hygiene.

     The Department of Health will keep up its health education to remind the public to maintain strict personal and environmental hygiene to prevent AI.

     The AFCD, the FEHD, the Customs and Excise Department and the Police will strive to deter the illegal import of poultry and birds into Hong Kong to minimise the risk of AI outbreaks caused by imported poultry and birds that have not gone through inspection and quarantine.

     All relevant government departments will continue to be highly vigilant and strictly enforce preventive measures against AI.

     Health advice about preventing AI is available from the "H5N1 Health Advice" page on the AFCD website at www.afcd.gov.hk.

     â€‹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 has raided licensed fresh provision shops (FPSs) in Sham Shui Po District suspected of selling chilled meat or frozen meat as fresh meat today (January 26).

     During the operation, FEHD officers raided two licensed FPSs in Mei Foo Sun Chuen, marked and sealed over 660 kilograms of suspected chilled meat and frozen meat for further investigation. Pork samples were also collected for testing for preservatives. Prosecution will be taken out if sufficient evidence is collected. The licensees of the two FPSs are suspected of breaching the licensing condition for the display and sale of chilled meat or frozen meat as fresh meat, and the FEHD is proceeding on the cancellation of the FPSs' licences.

     FEHD officers also initiated three prosecutions against the operators of the two FPSs for dirty food room, sale of frozen poultry without permission and failing to protect open food from risk of contamination. Verbal warnings were also given to the operators of the two FPSs for non-compliance of relevant licensing conditions for failing to provide delivery notes for inspection and failing to display the notice showing the approved type of meat for sale respectively.

     An FEHD spokesman said, "Selling of chilled or frozen meat disguised as fresh meat breaches the licensing condition and causes food safety problems. Operation by these profiteers also poses unfairness to other shops that comply with the requirements."

     "Anyone selling chilled meat 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 FPSs and market meat stalls, and will actively handle the complaints received. In detecting any irregularities, the FEHD will carry out immediate investigations 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 added.

     The spokesman stressed that the FEHD is very concerned about 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 (January 26) 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 8pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as "persons subject to compulsory testing") within the specified "restricted area" in Tung Chung (i.e. La Rossa A (Block 7), Coastal Skyline Phase 3, 12 Tung Chung Waterfront Road, Tung Chung. 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 about 7am tomorrow (January 27).

     A Government spokesman said, "Under Cap. 599J, the Government can, according to the needs of infection control, make a 'restriction-testing declaration'. As some cases tested positive who have lived in the abovementioned building were detected recently, and the test results involved mutant strain, the risk of infection in the relevant area is assessed to be likely higher, so 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 1am tomorrow. 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 arrange for door-to-door specimen collection for people with impaired mobility and elderly persons.

     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 7am 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 person who had been present at the above building for more than two hours from January 20, 2022 to January 26, 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 January 28, 2022. As a mutant strain is involved, and having considered relevant infection risks, for prudence's sake, vaccinated persons and persons who have recently been tested are also required to undergo testing.

     In addition, in accordance with the latest arrangement, persons who resided in the same building as the case tested positive involving mutant strain are required to undergo compulsory testing on days 2, 3, 4 and 7 counting from the day subsequent to that when the relevant confirmed case last stayed in that building before being admitted to hospital for treatment or leaving Hong Kong.

     The Home Affairs Department has set up a hotline (Tel: 2835 1473) which starts operation at 8pm 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.

     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 $5,000. 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 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months.