Author Archives: hksar gov

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:      The following press release is issued jointly by the Insurance Authority, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:… read more

     Two men were sentenced by the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts today (December 29) for violating the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C).
 
     The cases involved a 23-year-old man and a 24-year-old man, who were earlier issued a compulsory quarantine order respectively stating that they must conduct quarantine at home for seven days. Before the expiry of the quarantine order, they left the place of quarantine on September 4, 2021, without reasonable excuse nor permission given by an authorised officer. They were charged with contravening sections 8(1) and 8(5) of the Regulation and were sentenced by the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts today to imprisonment for 14 days, suspended for 24 months respectively. 
 
     Breaching a compulsory quarantine order is a criminal offence and offenders are subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months. A spokesman for the Department of Health said the sentence sends a clear message to the community that breaching a quarantine order is a criminal offence that the Government will not tolerate, and solemnly reminded the public to comply with the regulations. As of today, a total of 211 persons have been convicted by the courts for breaching quarantine orders and have received sentences including immediate imprisonment for up to 14 weeks or a fine of up to $15,000. The spokesman reiterated that resolute actions will be taken against anyone who has breached the relevant regulations. read more

     â€‹The Government today (December 29) announced that Regala Skycity Hotel (Regala) on Lantau Island will be added as a Designated Quarantine Facility (DQF) for foreign domestic workers (FDHs) from January 2022 onwards. As the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly around the world, the Government needs to reserve all rooms at the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre (PBQC) for quarantine purposes in order to prevent the variant from entering the community. Starting from January 3, 2022, Phases 1 and 2 of PBQC will thus cease taking reservations for FDHs coming to work in Hong Kong. In its initial period serving as a DQF, Regala will assist the Government in arranging by phases the intake of FDHs residing at PBQC to continue their quarantine. The FDHs, employers and employment agencies (EAs) concerned need not bear any additional costs or make any additional arrangements for the transfer to Regala, and the Government will inform them of the transfer arrangements one by one according to schedule. 

     A Government spokesman said, “Currently, apart from the PBQC, two DQFs for FDHs (i.e. Rambler Garden Hotel and Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong Sha Tin) are providing a total of 1 000 rooms. Regala will serve as a new DQF with an additional 1 138 rooms starting from January 2022. Recently, the global epidemic situation has worsened considerably due to the Omicron variant. The Government has to stay vigilant to prevent a fifth wave epidemic or outbreak in the community. After reviewing the situation holistically and prudently, the Government deems it necessary to reserve all rooms at the PBQC for meeting the quarantine purpose, and Phases 1 and 2 of the PBQC will cease taking reservations for FDHs from January 3, 2022, onwards. The Government is in discussions with another hotel with a view to having it serve as the fourth DQF within a short period of time. We will continue to include suitable hotels to serve as DQFs for FDHs.”

     The quarantine/transfer arrangements for FDHs at Phases 1 and 2 of the PBQC are as follows:
 

1. For FDHs residing at the PBQC: For FDHs whose quarantine completion date as shown on the compulsory quarantine order falls before January 5, 2022, they will continue to reside at the PBQC to complete the quarantine. As for FDHs with a quarantine completion date falling on or after January 5, 2022, the Government will, starting from January 1, 2022, arrange for them to transfer to Regala by phases. 
2. For those whose FDHs have yet to check in at the PBQC but have already made an application for a room reservation through the PBQC’s booking system: For applicants who have already received an SMS acknowledging receipt of the application, the Labour Department (LD) will inform them one by one through email about the relevant arrangements. As for applicants who have, after receiving the SMS acknowledging receipt of the application, further received a confirmation email from the LD, the relevant arrangements are: (a) FDHs who would check in at the PBQC before January 1, 2022, will be arranged to transfer to Regala by phases from January 1 to continue the quarantine; and (b) for FDHs with an original check-in date at the PBQC falling on or after January 1, 2022, the Government will arrange them to check in at Regala directly upon arrival in Hong Kong.     

     The Government will notify the FDHs, employers and EAs concerned one by one according to schedule. These FDHs, employers and EAs need not make any arrangement for the aforementioned transfer or direct check-in at Regala. Nor do they need to separately reserve a room at Regala for the FDHs. The Government will bear relevant costs, including the difference in room rates between the hotel and the PBQC. FDHs at the PBQC will have to undergo a COVID-19 test 24 hours prior to departing for Regala, and only those who are tested negative will transfer to the hotel.

     While most of the rooms at Regala will be reserved under the above arrangements for FDHs who would originally undergo quarantine at the PBQC in January 2022, its remaining rooms will be open for quarantine of other newly arrived FDHs. Starting from 9.30am on December 30, 2021, employers and EAs may reserve a room on or after January 5, 2022, through the online booking system of Regala (www.regala-hotels.com). A fee of $750 per night per room (including three meals and all charges) will be payable. The hotel will adjust the number of rooms open for reservation each day having regard to the overall booking situation.

     Employers and EAs must register using the real name as shown on the valid passport of the residing FDHs, and rooms reserved are not transferrable. Reservation applications made under the name of another person or party will not be processed.  When making the room reservation, the FDH’s passport copy, a valid employment visa and a recognised vaccination record must be made available. The reservation process is completed upon issuance of a booking confirmation by the hotel. FDHs will need to provide the above documents for verification when they check into the facility.

     Employers and EAs should allow sufficient time for preparing the documents required and completing the procedures when arranging for their FDHs to come to Hong Kong. They should only book an air ticket for their FDHs after a room has been successfully reserved in a DQF. Payment will be refunded to the person making the reservation if a change or cancellation of room booking is required because an FDH is tested positive for COVID-19 before arrival in Hong Kong, or because of a change or cancellation of flights by the airline or a lockdown, provided that relevant supporting documents are submitted in advance. An FDH who does not have a booking confirmation by a DQF will not be allowed to board a flight for Hong Kong or may be denied entry into Hong Kong upon arrival.

     The above arrangement for quarantine at DQFs is applicable to FDHs who have been fully vaccinated in regions where Hong Kong has reached a recognition agreement arrangement on their vaccination records (the currently applicable regions include Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand, etc). For the full list of applicable regions, please visit: www.coronavirus.gov.hk/pdf/places_of_issuance_recognised_vaccination_records.pdf.  A list of DQFs is in the Annex.

     As for FDHs who have received full vaccination in Hong Kong, they may undergo compulsory quarantine at a general designated quarantine hotel or a DQF.

     The dedicated FDH Portal (www.fdh.labour.gov.hk) set up by the LD provides information and useful links relating to the quarantine arrangements of FDHs. For enquiries, please contact the LD through its 24-hour hotline at 2717 1771 (manned by 1823) or by email to fdh-enquiry@labour.gov.hk. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:      As at 9am today (December 29), two COVID-19 confirmed patients (case numbers: 12404 and 12468) were discharged from hospital in the last 24 hours. Both of the patients … read more

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) announced that as of 0.00am, December 29, the CHP was investigating 14 additional confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), taking the number of cases to 12 619 in Hong Kong so far (comprising 12 618 confirmed cases and one probable case).

     The newly reported cases are imported cases. Eleven of the cases involved mutant strains, the mutation test result of one case is pending, and the viral loads of the remaining two cases are insufficient for mutation tests. The patients comprise nine males and five females, aged 15 to 63. Eight of them arrived in Hong Kong from Group A specified places (high-risk) with enhanced surveillance and six from Group A specified places (high-risk). Ten patients tested positive during the “test-and-hold” arrangement upon arrival at the Temporary Specimen Collection Centre (TSCC) at Hong Kong International Airport and three tested positive during quarantine. The remaining patient (case 12611) is a local air crew member. He underwent medical surveillance and regular compulsory testing in accordance with the relevant requirements for exempted persons and his sample collected at a community testing centre tested positive for COVID-19. The CHP has announced the case details yesterday (December 28) (www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202112/28/P2021122800615.htm).

     Among the above-mentioned cases, case 12617 involves a 15-year-old female patient living at Tower 6, The Belcher’s, Pok Fu Lam. She departed Hong Kong on December 15 for the United States (US). She arrived in Hong Kong on December 26 from the US by flight CX893 and tested negative upon arrival in the TSCC. According to the quarantine requirement for inbound travellers from a Group A specified place (high-risk) with enhanced surveillance, she underwent quarantine at the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre for the first four days, during which her sample on December 27 tested positive. She developed symptoms on December 28 and had a Ct value of less than 30. As a prudent measure, the places where she resided and visited in Hong Kong during the incubation period have been included in a compulsory testing notice (CTN). Specified persons who were present at the relevant venues at specified periods need to undergo compulsory testing on the specified date.

     A total of 109 cases have been reported in the past 14 days (December 15 to 28). One of them is an import-related case, while the rest are imported cases.

     Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of cases announced earlier conducted by the DH’s Public Health Laboratory Services Branch confirmed that cases 12578, 12579, 12581, 12582, 12583, 12584, 12585, 12586, 12588, 12591, 12593 and 12594 all carried the Variant of Concern Omicron. These cases involved four males and eight females, aged 19 to 79 years old. Ten of them tested positive during the “test-and-hold” arrangement upon arrival at the TSCC while two tested positive during quarantine.

     Together with the aforementioned cases, there are so far 70 cases involving Omicron in Hong Kong.

     Also, as the passenger flights (CX881) operated by Cathay Pacific arriving in Hong Kong from Los Angeles, the US, on December 26 and 28 each had two passengers who tested positive upon arrival (a total of four passengers confirmed to have COVID-19 by arrival tests within a seven-day period), and another passenger flight (CX829) arriving in Hong Kong from Toronto, Canada, on December 28 had three passengers who tested positive upon arrival, the DH thus invoked the Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulation of Cross-boundary Conveyances and Travellers) Regulation (Cap. 599H) to prohibit the landing of passenger flights from Los Angeles or Toronto operated by Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong from December 29 to January 11, 2022.

     According to the testing and quarantine arrangements for local COVID-19 cases with mutant strains, the CHP reminded that persons who resided or worked within the same building as the residence of relevant cases will be subject to compulsory testing on specified dates in accordance with the announcement by the DH. They will also be required to undergo self-monitoring until the 21st day (see the details of the buildings and dates of testing at www.coronavirus.gov.hk/pdf/CTN_Specified_premises_and_Dates_of_Testing.pdf).

     Specified persons in relation to the following specified premises are also reminded to undergo compulsory testing in accordance with the CTN tomorrow (December 30):

• On Hei House, Siu Hei Court, 201 Wu Chui Road, Tuen Mun
• One South Lane, 1 South Lane, Shek Tong Tsui
• Twilight Court, Peninsula Village, 2 Caperidge Drive, Discovery Bay, Lantau Island
• Tower 1, The SeaCrest, Hang Kwai Street, Tuen Mun

     The CHP’s epidemiological investigations and relevant contact tracing on the confirmed cases are ongoing. For case details and contact tracing information, please see the Annex or the “COVID-19 Thematic Website” (www.coronavirus.gov.hk).

     â€‹The spokesman for the CHP stressed, “The global situation of COVID-19 infection remains severe and there is a continuous increase in the number of cases involving mutant strains that carry higher transmissibility, and there are also reports of breakthrough infections in some vaccinated individuals. The CHP strongly urges members of the public to avoid all non-essential travel outside Hong Kong, in particular to specified places with high risk under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulation of Cross-boundary Conveyances and Travellers) Regulation (Cap. 599H).” read more