The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced today (January 5) that, in view of the latest situation of COVID-19, further measures have to be adopted to maintain social distancing. Starting from January 7 (Friday), most of the leisure and cultural venues/facilities will be temporarily closed for 14 days until midnight on January 20 (Thursday). The recreational, sports and cultural programmes to be held in the above period will also be cancelled.

Leisure and Sports Venues

     Apart from the barbecue sites, holiday camps and Pui O Campsite which remain closure, outdoor leisure venues/facilities will be temporarily closed, including tennis courts, bowling greens, sports grounds, Ngau Chi Wan Park Archery Range, Shek O Obstacle Golf Course, Tuen Mun Recreation and Sports Centre, hard-surface/ sand/ grass pitches, gateball courts, table tennis tables, skateparks, roller skating rinks, roller hockey grounds, skateboard grounds, outdoor fitness equipment, model car play areas, model boat pools, cycling facilities (except for cycle paths), outdoor children play facilities (including tricycling area, outdoor children playgrounds, road safety towns), pebble walking trails, chess tables, amphitheatres, public swimming pools and water sports centres. Lifeguard services at those gazetted beaches which were originally open during the winter period, including Deep Water Bay Beach, Clear Water Bay Second Beach, Silverstrand Beach and Golden Beach, will be suspended.       
     
     All indoor sports facilities including sports centres, squash centres and badminton centres will also be closed.

     Passive/Amenity areas at the LCSD's parks (such as lawns and benches in parks) and outdoor jogging tracks at parks will remain open.

     Application for use of amphitheatres non-fee charging leisure venues for non-designated use/sales activities and application from schools or organisations on road safety towns will continue to be suspended until further notice.

     For refund arrangements in relation to venue closures, the hirer may submit a completed refund application form together with the original booking permit to the LCSD booking office at a District Leisure Services Office or to relevant leisure venues by post. The application form can be downloaded from www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/aboutlcsd/forms/refund.html. Due to the closure of fee-charging facilities, the number of refund cases will increase tremendously. The LCSD has adopted measures to handle these refund cases as soon as possible but a prolonged processing time for refunds is expected. Members of the public are advised to note the longer time required for refunds. The department apologises for any inconvenience caused.

Cultural Venues
      
     All public libraries and their students' study rooms will be temporarily closed. All book drop services of the Hong Kong Public Libraries and those located at MTR Central, Kowloon Tong and Nam Cheong Stations as well as the self-service library stations at Island East Sports Centre Sitting-out Area, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Tsuen Nam Road, Tai Wai, will maintain services. Public libraries will continue to provide online services such as e-Books and e-Databases. Please visit www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/index.html for details.
     
     All performance venues, music centres of the Music Office and museums will be temporarily closed. All programmes and activities will be suspended. During the period, all applications for Museum Passes and Hong Kong Film Archive Resource Centre's Audiovisual Materials Viewing Cards will be suspended. Admission arrangement for holders of Museum Passes will be announced in due course.

     The URBTIX outlets and ticket dispensing machines at the LCSD performance venues will be closed. URBTIX will maintain Internet and mobile app ticketing and hotline services.

     Refund arrangements in relation to the closure of cultural facilities will be announced in due course.

     During the venue closure period, members of the public can visit the LCSD 's Edutainment Channel (www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/edutainment-channel.html), an one-stop online platform covering informative and learning materials on aspects of culture and leisure, to participate the online programmes "vis-a-vis +01" series and its access videos on various fields including culture, arts and sports.

     A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) announced today (January 5) that, in view of the latest situation of COVID-19, EPD public facilities will be temporarily closed from Friday (January 7). Visitor and education programmes at Recycling Stations and Recycling Stores will be cancelled until further notice.
 
     The EPD's facilities to be temporarily closed from Friday include:
 

• T•PARK visitor centre
• O•PARK1 visitor centre
• WEEE•PARK visitor centre
• EcoPark visitor centre
• Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre
• Facilities at restored landfills (namely Shuen Wan Restored Landfill – Golf Driving Range, Tseung Kwan O Restored Landfill – Football Training Centre, and Gin Drinkers Bay Restored Landfill – Cricket Hong Kong Centre and the Hong Kong Jockey Club International BMX Park)

 
     All Recycling Stations and Recycling Stores will remain open to collect recyclables, but the collection service of Recycling Spots will be temporarily suspended until further notice.
 
     "We will inform members of the public who have made advance bookings for some of the EPD public facilities about the temporary closures via SMS, Facebook or other channels," the spokesman added.

     In the preceding week till 11.59pm on January 2, the Department of Health (DH) received 30 reports (Note 1) of adverse events following COVID-19 immunisation. No death case was reported by the Hospital Authority (HA) involving individuals who had received vaccines within 14 days before they passed away and had potential association with vaccination.

     As at 8pm on January 2, over 9.96 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered for members of the public. Around 4.89 million people had received at least one dose of vaccine, accounting for 72.6 per cent of the population aged 12 or above. The DH received 6 625 reports (Note 1) of adverse events (0.07 per cent of the total vaccine doses administered). Among the death cases concerning persons who had been vaccinated, including 53 cases (Note 2) with vaccination within 14 days before they passed away (0.0005 per cent of the total vaccine doses administered), none of the death cases was associated with vaccination.

     As at January 4, the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation had concluded that 38 death cases had no causal relationship with vaccination, and preliminarily considered that 15 cases were not associated with vaccination. The Expert Committee considered that there is no unusual pattern identified so far, and will continue to closely monitor the relevant situation and collect data for assessment.

     According to information from the HA, during the period from December 6, 2021, to January 2, 2022, the ratio of death cases out of those without a vaccination record was 137.3 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of death cases for those with a vaccination record was 9.6 cases for every 100 000 people. The overall death rate is similar to that recorded in the past three years. Out of those without a vaccination record, the ratio of death cases with acute stroke or acute myocardial infarction was 7.0 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of death cases under the same category for those with a vaccination record was 0.8 cases for every 100 000 people. Furthermore, the ratio of miscarriage cases out of those without a vaccination record was 27.6 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of miscarriage cases for those who had a vaccination record was 12.2 cases for every 100 000 people. Based on the statistical analysis of the above figures, there is no evidence that vaccination increases the risk of death or miscarriage for recipients. The relevant reference statistics will be uploaded to the thematic website for the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme.

     The majority of non-death cases of adverse events received so far are relatively minor cases. The relevant details can be found in the "Report on the Safety Monitoring of COVID-19 Vaccines in Hong Kong" (www.drugoffice.gov.hk/eps/do/en/doc/Safety_Monitoring_of_COVID-19_Vaccines_in_Hong_Kong.pdf).

     "The COVID-19 vaccination rate for the elderly aged 80 or above in Hong Kong is only around 21 per cent at present, meaning that 79 per cent of the elderly in that age group are in a dangerous situation, which is alarming. The Comirnaty and CoronaVac vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe cases and deaths from COVID-19. They can provide effective protection to those vaccinated in preventing serious complications and even death after infection. The Government has expanded the third dose vaccination programme to include all people who have received two doses of vaccines for a period of time. We call on members of the public who are currently eligible for a third dose to get the dose as soon as possible. As for those not yet vaccinated, especially senior citizens, chronic patients and other immunocompromised persons who face a much higher chance of death after COVID-19 infection, they should get vaccinated as early as possible for better self-protection," a Government spokesman said.
 
Note 1: Provisional figures. In the preceding week till 11.59pm on January 2, the DH did not receive any reports of suspected myocarditis or pericarditis involving adolescents aged 12 to 15.

Note 2: In the preceding week till 11.59pm on January 2, the DH received one death report involving an individual who had received COVID-19 vaccination within 14 days before passing away. The case involved a female aged 67. There is no clinical evidence that the incident arose from vaccination.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The spokesperson for Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) made the following announcement today (January 5) regarding an incident of loss of patient data:
 
     The hospital received a report from Lek Yuen General-outpatient Clinic, located in the Sir Yue-kong Pao Centre　for Cancer and the Lady Pao Children's Centre for Cancer, at noon on January 3 that a batch of pathology reports belonging to seven patients placed in the consultation room were found lost. The reports contained personal information including patients' names, identity card numbers, sex, age and examination results. 
 
     PWH is very concerned about the incident. Clinic staff conducted a thorough search in the clinic and in the vicinity immediately upon receiving notification. Clinic staff also contacted the patients who had entered the consultation room that morning and reviewed the CCTV footage. However, the reports could not be located. PWH has individually notified the patients concerned and reprinted the reports. Treatment for the patients was not affected. The hospital has reported the incident to the Police and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.
 
     PWH expressed apologies to the patients affected and reported the incident to the Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advance Incident Reporting System. All staff have been reminded on the guidelines on the safe keeping and handling of patients' records.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:

     The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) announced today (January 5) that in response to the latest situation of the pandemic, for the sake of maintaining social distancing, the HA will close all of its outdoor and indoor sports/recreational and public facilities from Friday (January 7), and will suspend all applications for venue booking until further notice.

     The closure will apply to all ball courts, table tennis tables, chess tables, children's playgrounds and fitness equipment for the elderly and other outdoor and indoor sports/recreational and public facilities, including assembly halls, multi-purpose rooms and more, within public housing estates.

     Reservations for using these facilities and venues will be cancelled while new bookings will also be suspended.

     The HA will closely monitor the situation and review the above arrangements in a timely manner.