The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (January 9) said as three cases tested positive and a case tested preliminarily positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus recently occurred at Mei Sun Building, … read more
The Government today (January 9) 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 9pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as “persons subject to compulsory testing”) within the specified “restricted area” in Tai Po (i.e. Mei Sun Building, 4-20 Kau Hui Chik Street, Tai Po, excluding the shops at G/F and residential care home for the elderly at 1/F to 3/F at Mei Sun Building. 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 10).
A Government spokesman said, “Under Cap. 599J, the Government can, according to the needs of infection control, make a ‘restriction-testing declaration’. As a preliminary tested positive case who has lived in the abovementioned building was detected today, and the preliminary test result involved a 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 after the test result was found to be positive.”
The Government will set up temporary specimen collection stations at the “restricted area” and request persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo testing before 12.30am 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 3, 2022 to January 9, 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 11, 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 preliminary tested positive case carrying variant of concern suspected to be Omicron are required to undergo compulsory testing on days 2, 3, 4, 7, 12 and 19 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 9pm 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. read more
The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, accompanied by the Controller of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH), Dr Edwin Tsui, and the Principal Nursing Officer, Dr Mary Foong, today (January 9) inspected DH work units responsible for contact tracing and quarantine matters, including the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre (PBQC), Contact Tracing Office (CTO), the CHP’s Quarantine Centre Task Force (QCTF) and Home Quarantine Task Force (HQTF), to understand their response plans in view of the recent surge in cases tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the latest working condition of front line staff, and ensure smooth execution of the department’s anti-epidemic work and effectiveness of contact tracing so as to contain the further spread of infections.
At the PBQC, Dr Lam was briefed by front line staff on the operation of the centre and its contingency plan. As most of the recent cases had attended a number of social gatherings leading to increased transmission chains in community, the number of close contacts that needed to be quarantined at the centre increased rapidly in the past few days, putting much pressure on the manpower and capacity of quarantine facilities.
Dr Lam said, “Recently, the local epidemic situation changed drastically. Apart from a surge in imported cases, cases involving the more transmissible Omicron have been spreading locally. We must immediately intensify the various tasks relating to contact tracing and quarantine. I am most grateful to my colleagues who have all along stand firm by their posts and contribute to anti-epidemic efforts. Facing the recent threat posed by the Omicron, let us join hands with the public again to fight against the rising risk in the latest epidemic situation.”
After that, Dr Lam visited the CTO at the Kai Tak Community Hall, where he was briefed by staff on the work concerning the recent tracing of a large number of close contacts relating to a number of clusters. The office has successfully assisted in the tracing of a large number of close contacts in the past week, in an attempt to end the virus transmission chain as soon as possible. The heads of the QCTF and HQTF of the CHP also reported on the coordination work in arranging compulsory quarantine for a large number of close contacts and their household contacts within a short period of time and the provision of necessary support for people under quarantine.
Dr Lam said, “The Government has tightened social distancing measures decisively aiming to promptly cut the transmission chain. I appeal to the public to continue to support and comply by the measures and rules, especially to refrain from participating in unnecessary or crowded activities or mass gathering, and to get vaccinated of COVID-19 and Influenza vaccines as soon as possible. This would lower the risk of infection and prevent the virus from spreading in the community.”
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) today (January 9) continued to step up patrols at venues under its management, ensuring venue users to abide by the anti-epidemic regulations in order to minimise the risk of … read more
The Government today (January 9) 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 7pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as “persons subject to compulsory testing”) within the specified “restricted area” in Tuen Mun (i.e. Tower 8, Aegean Coast, 2 Kwun Tsing Road, Castle Peak Road – So Kwun Wat, Tuen Mun. 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 6.30am tomorrow (January 10).
A Government spokesman said, “Under Cap. 599J, the Government can, according to the needs of infection control, make a ‘restriction-testing declaration’. As a preliminary tested positive case who has lived in the abovementioned building was detected today, and the preliminary test result involved a 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 after the test result was found to be positive.”
The Government will set up temporary specimen collection stations at the “restricted area” and request persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo testing before 12am 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 6.30am 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 4, 2022 to January 9, 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 11, 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 preliminary tested positive case carrying variant of concern suspected to be Omicron are required to undergo compulsory testing on days 2, 3, 4, 7, 12 and 19 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 7pm 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. read more