Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

     Please broadcast the following special announcement immediately, and repeat it at frequent intervals when the Cold Weather Warning is in force:

     The Labour Department reminds employers that as the Cold Weather Warning is in force, they should take appropriate precautions such as reminding employees who have to work outdoors or in remote areas to wear appropriately warm clothing, and make arrangements for employees to rotate from outdoor to indoor or sheltered work sites as far as possible. Employees should take note of the weather report, wear appropriately warm clothing and be mindful of their health conditions. They should notify their supervisors and seek medical help immediately if feeling unwell, such as having cold limbs and body shivering.

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (December 20) reminded the public, particularly the elderly and people with chronic illnesses, to adopt appropriate measures to protect their health in view of the cold weather.

    A spokesman for the CHP said that cold weather can easily trigger or exacerbate diseases, especially among the elderly and persons suffering from heart disease, respiratory illnesses or other chronic illnesses.

     "Elderly people have less insulating fat beneath their skin to keep them warm, and their body temperature control mechanisms may be weaker. Their body may not be able to appropriately respond to thecold weather," the spokesman said.

     Some senior persons may have decreased mobility, which can impair their ability to generate and conserve body heat. Chronic illnesses, such as hypertension, diabetes and endocrine disorders, may undermine the health of elderly people and lower their metabolic rate, subsequently causing their body to generate less heat. Persons with chronic illnesses, such as chronic respiratory illnesses or heart disease, are vulnerable to disease aggravation due to cold weather.

     The CHP reminded the public, in particular the elderly and persons with chronic illnesses, to adopt the following preventive measures:
 

• Take note of the weather forecast. Wear warm clothing, including hats, scarves, gloves and socks, accordingly;
• Consume sufficient food to ensure adequate calorie intake;
• Perform regular exercise to facilitate blood circulation and heat production;
• Stay in a warm environment and avoid prolonged outdoor exposure;
• Use heaters with care and maintain adequate indoor ventilation; and
• Seek medical advice if feeling unwell.

     
     â€‹In addition, the public should avoid alcoholic beverages.
     
     "Drinking alcohol cannot keep you warm. Alcohol accelerates the loss of body heat through dilated blood vessels, resulting in chilling instead," the spokesman said.

     "Parents should ensure that babies are sufficiently warm, but it is also important to keep babies relatively lightly clothed to avoid overheating them," the spokesman added.

     Parents should observe the following safety measures when putting their children to bed:  

• Keep the room well ventilated and at a comfortable temperature;
• Always place babies on their backs to sleep. Leave their heads, faces and arms uncovered during sleep;
• Babies do not need pillows. Place babies on a firm and well-fitted mattress to sleep. Avoid soft objects, pillows and loose bedding;
• Let babies sleep in a cot placed near their parents' bed; and
• Maintain a smoke-free environment.

 
     In addition, many respiratory pathogens, including influenza and SARS-CoV-2, may have increasing activity and community transmission during winter. Seasonal influenza vaccination is recommended for all persons aged 6 months or above, except those with known contraindications. Persons at higher risk of getting influenza and its complications, including the elderly and children, should receive seasonal influenza vaccinations early. Please see details of the vaccination schemes on the CHP's website.
      
     A person who gets influenza and COVID-19 at the same time may be more seriously ill and would have a higher risk of death. It is important for elderly persons, especially those residing in residential care homes, to receive both a seasonal influenza vaccination and a COVID-19 vaccination. They should also receive an additional booster against COVID-19 according to recommendations as soon as possible. The public should also maintain good personal and environmental hygiene against respiratory illnesses and note the following:
 

• Surgical masks can prevent transmission of respiratory viruses from ill persons. It is essential for persons who are symptomatic (even if having mild symptoms) to wear a surgical mask;
• Wear a surgical mask when taking public transport or staying in crowded places. It is important to wear a mask properly, including performing hand hygiene before wearing and after removing a mask;
• Avoid touching one's eyes, mouth and nose;
• Wash hands with liquid soap and water properly whenever possibly contaminated;
• When hands are not visibly soiled, clean them with 70 to 80 per cent alcohol-based handrub;
• Cover the mouth and nose with tissue paper when sneezing or coughing. Dispose of soiled tissue paper properly into a lidded rubbish bin and wash hands thoroughly afterwards;
• Maintain good indoor ventilation;
• When having respiratory symptoms, wear a surgical mask, refrain from work or attending classes at school, avoid going to crowded places and seek medical advice promptly; and
• Maintain a balanced diet, exercise regularly, take adequate rest, do not smoke and avoid overstress.

    
     Food-borne diseases, particularly those linked to hotpot cuisine, are also common in cold weather. The following preventive measures should be taken:
 

• Wash hands before handling and consuming food;
• Do not patronise unlicensed vendors or those with poor hygienic standards while selecting food;
• Wash and cook all food thoroughly;
• Vegetables should be washed thoroughly in clean running water before cooking and consumption. When appropriate, scrub vegetables with hard surfaces with a clean brush to remove dirt and substances, including pesticide residues and contaminants, from surfaces and crevices;
• Shrimps should be fully cooked until the shells turn red and the flesh turns white and opaque;
• For shellfish such as scallops and geoduck, scrub the shells thoroughly and remove internal organs;
• Do not eat any undercooked freshwater aquatic products. To ensure that the food is thoroughly cooked, the centre of the food should reach a temperature of at least 75 degrees Celsius so as to destroy pathogen;
• Most hotpot ingredients should be stored in a refrigerator at 4 degrees C or below, while frozen food should be stored in a freezer at -18 degrees C or below;
• Never use raw eggs as a dipping sauce for hotpot; and
• Use different sets of chopsticks to handle raw and cooked food to avoid cross-contamination.

    
     â€‹In addition, when using fuel-burning appliances, especially in indoor areas, the public should ensure adequate ventilation to avoid harmful exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) and prevent CO poisoning.
     
     For more health information, the public may call the DH's Health Education Infoline (2833 0111) or visit the CHP's website and Facebook Fanpage.

     The public may also call Dial-a-Weather (1878 200) or visit the website of the Hong Kong Observatory for the latest weather information and forecasts, or its page on Weather Information for Senior Citizens.

     The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) will hold the "Perceptual and Intellectual – Explorations into Everything and Oneself" exhibition starting from tomorrow (December 20). The exhibition will feature 10 sets of installations and interactive new media creations by six Hong Kong artists, illustrating the evolution of technology from mechanics and electronics to digitalisation and artificial intelligence. These artworks showcase the application of technology in creative endeavours, integrating art and technology that resonates with contemporary life.
      
     The exhibition is the Hong Kong section curated by the HKMoA for the eighth edition of the Hong Kong – Macao Visual Art Biennale, exhibited in Beijing and Shenzhen in 2022 before returning to Hong Kong this year. The Biennale is a major arts and cultural event jointly presented by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Hong Kong and Macao counterparts.
      
     The exhibition features artworks by six Hong Kong artists – Joseph Chan, Chris Cheung, Tung Wing-hong, Kenny Wong, and the duo Samuel Yip and Janice To. Drawing inspiration from a wide range of themes including migratory birds, trees, seasonal changes, and movie scenes, the artists infuse their creations with modern technology. The artworks also interact with the audience to explore interactions between nature, virtuality, humanity, interpersonal connections, and self-reflection, offering a multidimensional humanistic perspective. The museum also invited multimedia artist Ng Tsz-kwan as the Art Tech partner for providing professional production for the exhibition, enabling visitors to embark on a perceptual and intellectual journey into the intersection of art and technology.
      
     Hong Kong is situated on the southern coast of China, where its wetlands, woodlands, shrublands and coastal areas provide suitable habitats for various bird species. Inspired by the natural wonder of migratory birds, artist Joseph Chan, who studied mechanical engineering, created the kinetic installation named "Migratory birds". Navigating the realms of engineering, science and art, three lifelike formations of birds and their postures reflect the artist's keen observation of the natural ecosystem. The work evokes poetry in rationality through exquisite carvings.
      
     "Tree of heaven" is a multimedia installation created by new media artists Samuel Yip and Janice To, who specialise in audio-visual and installation art. The duo fuses the realms of animation, interactive programme, and imagination to contemplate the relationship between human activity and the natural environment, as well as the concepts of usefulness and uselessness through audience interaction with a virtual nature. The artists also placed a number of wood logs made from recycled tree trucks in Hong Kong in this installation. Echoing the image of the tree of heaven in this work, the audience's stillness or movement around the wood logs can influence and shape the virtual natural world depicted, contemplating the meaning of uselessness and the symbiosis with nature portrayed in the artwork.
      
     Chris Cheung is best known for his installation art and audio-visual performances. His artwork "Cinemorpheque" explores the concept of a future immersive cinematic experience inspired by scenes from classic Hong Kong films – "Lavender", "Happy Together", "Hero", and "The Grandmaster" – which showcase the four seasons. This work employs a machine learning model from Generative Adversarial Networks to study over 10 000 seasonal and different scenes from various films before generating the virtual scenes and morphing visuals. Presented in abstract particles, the artwork overlays the viewer's virtual three-dimensional silhouette onto the generated landscapes, challenging the boundaries between time and space, and the physical and virtual worlds, immersing viewers in a new landscape envisioned by artificial intelligence. The artwork presents virtual seasonal landscapes through the lens of artificial intelligence and leads the audience into a new dimension of perception.
      
     Artist Kenny Wong's works explore the delicate relationship between daily experiences and perceptual stimuli by hybridising analogue and digital representations. His work, the "dist." series, is inspired by fleeting eye contact with strangers in the city and the indefinite variables in relationships. "Dist." is an abbreviation for "distance", widely used in mathematics and programming. In this series, it represents both relational and mathematical distance. The work interprets the dynamics of pendulum movement, while one of the mechanical video installations, "dist.duo", also incorporates digital sensors, with custom software deliberately altering the balance and deregulating the rhythms of the pendulums. By combining rational and irrational rules, the motion and visuals interweave in a dynamic pattern, reflecting the artist's take on human relationships.
      
     Tung Wing-hong, who was given the Award for Young Artist (Media Arts) at the 18th Hong Kong Arts Development Awards in 2024, has two artworks on display in the exhibition.  "i / i" is a video and kinetic installation of two hanging, rotating monitors, each playing a video of the artist gazing at his own reflection in a mirror in an attempt to re-experience and confront the "self". Although the mirror images reflect the same individual, a sense of strangeness grows over time, highlighting the differences between the reflected and the real. In Tung's other video and kinetic installation, "Hundred jumps", a motor-driven cable tie repeatedly lashes the screen. The legs displayed on the screen are trapped in an endless cycle of repetitive jumping. By combining virtual imagery with the physical act of whipping, the work invites viewers to imagine their own legs jumping to avoid the strikes, exploring a multidimensional human perception that intertwines viewing, imagination and spatial experience.
      
     The exhibition will run from December 20 at the Hong Kong Art Gallery on the second floor of the HKMoA (10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon). Admission is free. For details of the exhibition, please visit the website at hk.art.museum/en/web/ma/exhibitions-and-events/perceptual-and-intellectual.html or call 2721 0116 for enquiries.

                          

     Following the opening of DREAM Support Service Centre for Ethnic Minorities in Kowloon City earlier this month, another support service centre in Sha Tin, namely IDEA Centre, also officially opens today (December 19). The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, officiated at the opening ceremony of IDEA Centre.
 
     Speaking at the ceremony, Miss Mak said that the Government had been striving to support and empower ethnic minorities. With the opening of IDEA Centre, the Government has successfully implemented the initiative to set up two new centres in New Territories East and Kowloon Central within 2024 as announced in the Chief Executive's Policy Address last year, increasing the number of support service centres from eight to 10.
 
     To step up the Government's efforts to support ethnic minorities, Miss Mak added that as announced in the 2024 Policy Address by the Chief Executive, the Government will invite one more existing support service centre next year, together with the existing Centre for Harmony and Enhancement of Ethnic Minority Residents (CHEER Centre), to provide interpretation and translation services for ethnic minorities. She said she believes that this new initiative will alleviate the inconvenience they face due to language barriers and further facilitate the integration of ethnic minorities into the community.
 
     Other officiating guests included the Permanent Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Ms Shirley Lam; the Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Mr Clarence Leung; the Director of Home Affairs, Mrs Alice Cheung; the President of Hong Kong Community Network (HKCN), Mr Suen Kwok-lam; and the Chief Executive of HKCN, Mr Fan Kwok-fai.
 
     The 10 support service centres for ethnic minorities are located in Wan Chai, Kwun Tong, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Tung Chung, Kwai Tsing, Kowloon City and Sha Tin. IDEA Centre, operated by HKCN, is located at Shop 1 & 2, G/F, Belair Gardens Shopping Arcade, 52 Tai Chung Kiu Road, Sha Tin. The centre provides a wide range of support services for ethnic minorities, including language classes, interest classes, orientation programmes, youth activities, and integration activities, as well as counselling and referral services. It will also assist ethnic minorities in accessing public services, such as provision of workstations for accessing the Internet and distribution of multilingual service guidebooks and leaflets on services provided by the Government and non-profit-making organisations. The Ethnic Minority Care Team set up by IDEA Centre has also commenced services in tandem.
 
     Except for public holidays, the centre operates six days a week and is closed on Wednesdays. The operating hours are from 9am to 9pm.
 
     Members of the public may call IDEA Centre's hotline at 3101 5959 for more information about the centre.

          

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) Board Meeting today (December 19) discussed and endorsed the Report of the "2023 Patient Experience Survey on Inpatient Service" (the Survey). Over 90 per cent of interviewed patients rated their overall inpatient experience as good to excellent in the Survey, reflecting healthcare staff's professionalism and unwavering efforts in providing quality service as earning patients' recognition, support and trust. 
 
     The Survey, which was the first comprehensive patient experience survey after the HA's resumption of service to full normalcy, was conducted from October 2023 to April 2024. The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care (JCSPHPC) of the Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was commissioned by the HA to conduct the Survey, with around 10,000 randomly selected patients discharged from 26 public hospitals interviewed. In addition to traditional telephone interviews, this survey introduced electronic questionnaires as an alternative option for respondents.
 
     The Survey examined patients' experiences of various care aspects including admission, evaluation of hospital environment, facilities and hospital staff, care and treatment, provision of information upon discharge, and overall impression on the hospital. To ensure that the Survey reflects the latest developments of the HA's services, new survey items were added in the questionnaire to understand patient experiences on care co-ordination, discharge support, the "HA Go" mobile application and community care services.
 
     Professor Eliza Wong of the JCSPHPC of the Faculty of Medicine of the CUHK said that the findings revealed that the overall inpatient experience of the interviewed patients was very positive, with 91 per cent of the respondents rating their overall inpatient experience at the 26 public hospitals at 7 or above (along a scoring scale of 0 to 10), with the average score being 8.1.
 
     Patient feedback highlighted several positive areas, including high confidence in healthcare staff, clear and understandable answers from nurses and allied health professionals, being treated with respect, sufficient privacy protection, and staff's provision of clear and understandable explanations on medication usage and effects. Furthermore, certain aspects showed significant improvement compared with a similar survey conducted in 2019, particularly in patients' involvement during the treatment and discharge process, as well as the provision of rehabilitation and care information to patients' families or caregivers.
 
     "The survey results also identified some areas for improvement, including self introduction of healthcare staff, provision of discharge information and information about feedback channels. Additionally, while some aspects received good overall ratings, there were relatively large variations in scores among hospitals in areas such as comforting patients' worries or fears by hospital staff; patients being bothered when resting at wards; explanations of medication side effects; provision of rehabilitation information to family or caregivers; staff assistance in using "HA Go"; patient involvement; and opportunities for patients' families or caregivers to talk to doctors. These variations merit investigation and sharing of good practices among individual hospitals to enhance the overall service quality," Professor Wong added.
 
     The HA Chief Manager (Patient Relations and Engagement), Ms Fion Lee, expressed gratitude to the interviewed patients for their participation and valuable feedback, which helps the HA better understand the needs and concerns of patients and the public. The positive ratings of inpatient services by the interviewed patients also serve as great encouragement to the healthcare teams.
 
     "People-centred care lies at the HA's core values and service goals. Understanding patients' opinions and experiences helps the HA continuously monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of various measures. The HA will thoroughly examine the survey results and implement different initiatives to enhance patient experiences, including promotion of compassionate communication, enhancement of public feedback channels, promulgation and support for the use of "HA Go", and exploration of care information integration at "HA Go" to enhance the overall service quality," Ms Lee said.
 
     Members of the public are welcome to browse the full Report of the Survey, which can be accessed online under "Patient Experience Survey" of "Special Reports" in the "Corporate News" section of the HA website www.ha.org.hk.