​The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said today (February 27) that, after thorough cleaning and disinfection, the Tsuen Wan Slaughterhouse (TWSH) has reopened today to provide limited slaughtering service. The FEHD will continue to arrange COVID-19 testing for slaughterhouse practitioners, to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
In order to allow the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse (SSSH) and TWSH to resume normal operation as soon as possible, while at the same time safeguard the health of the practitioners and the public, the Secretary for Food and Health has exercised her powers under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) to issue a compulsory testing notice. From February 28, practitioners of SSSH and TWSH are required to undergo the specified test (polymerase chain reaction-based nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 using specimens taken through combined nasal and throat swabs) regularly, and will only be allowed to enter the slaughterhouses if they have the SMS notification of the negative test result issued within the past two days of entering the slaughterhouse (before March 2, if they have not yet received the SMS notification of the test result before entering the slaugtherhouse, they may instead produce the SMS notification on registration for undergoing the test), and have a negative result of rapid antigen test taken within the past 24 hours for inspection.
Further to the arrangements in these two days, the FEHD has arranged for practitioners of the two slaughterhouses (including slaughterhouse staff, buyers and staff of importers) to receive from tomorrow (February 28) onwards the specified test, free of charge, at two designated mobile specimen collection stations at Tsuen Wan Park and Sheung Shui Cycling Entry/Exit Hub. The service hours for the two stations are 8am to noon and 7am to noon respectively everyday. The FEHD will continue to issue to all practitioners of the slaughterhouses rapid antigen test kits sufficient for their daily use.
This weekend, a total of 631 practitioners of the two slaughterhouses had taken the free test that the FEHD had arranged for them. The FEHD strongly appealed to the other practitioners to undergo the tests as soon as possible tomorrow.
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