The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     â€‹The spokesperson for Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital (HKBH) gave the following announcement today (July 4):
      
     An 89-year-old female patient in a medicine and geriatrics ward of HKBH was confirmed to be a Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) carrier on June 25. In accordance with prevailing infection control guidelines, the hospital has conducted contact tracing. Two more female patients (aged 80 and 81) were found to be VRE carriers. All patients have been discharged.
      
     The following enhanced infection control measures have already been adopted in the ward concerned:
     

1. isolation of VRE cases and application of stringent contact precautions;
2. enhanced environmental cleaning and disinfection; and
3. enhanced hand hygiene for staff and patients.

 
     The hospital will continue the enhanced infection control measures and closely monitor the situation of the ward concerned. The cases have been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow-up.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority: 

     Regarding an earlier announcement on a cluster of patients infected with Human Metapneumovirus in a male medical ward, the spokesperson for North District Hospital made the following update today (July 4):

     Two more patients (aged 72 and 81) in the ward have presented with respiratory symptoms. Appropriate viral tests were arranged for the patients and their test results were positive for Human Metapneumovirus. The 72-year-old patient has been discharged after clinical assessment, while the 81-year-old patient is being treated in isolation and is in stable condition.

     Infection control measures have already been stepped up according to established guidelines. Droplet and contact precautions, hand hygiene, cleaning and disinfection of the environment and equipment have also been strengthened. All other patients in the ward concerned are under close surveillance.

     The cases have been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow-up.

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, at a media session today (July 4) on the quarterly land sale programme for July to September 2024:
 
Reporter: For my first question, so far this year there's no successful tender for residential site in the first quarter of this year. Is that why the Government only sells one residential site in the upcoming quarter, without putting up any residential site on sale? Also, could you recap in English for what you have answered the reporter's question from Sing Tao, like the land sale income so far does not reach around 1 per cent of the Government's target. So what would the Government do in the latter half of this year to try to reach the annual target of the land sale income?
 
Secretary for Development: First of all on your first question, I think it is not correct to say that we do not have a successful tender of residential site this year. Because so far for the first quarter, we have rolled out one site for tender, also in Sha Tin, and the tender period is yet to close. It will close next Friday. So for that tender, it is ongoing.
 
     As to why we only roll out one site for tender in this quarter, which is the second quarter, another site in Sha Tin. I think in determining when and how many sites to be rolled out, we also have to look at the market situation. I think it is a hard reality that currently Hong Kong is still picking up in our economic pace. And while we have already put on a land sale programme for the year, a total of eight residential sites, we will also look at the market conditions in determining when to roll out each of those sites on the list. So having one site rolled out is a modest arrangement, but it is also a demonstration of the Government's commitment to roll out our residential sites in a regular and paced manner.
 
     As regards commercial sites, it is also a hard fact that the vacancy rate for the commercial floor area in the economy is now on the high side. According to some recent statistics, it is around 13 per cent. So taking into account the market condition, we think we have a reason not to roll out commercial sites in this quarter. But still, as I have mentioned before, we will put on our land sale programme, and we have done so, a number of commercial sites, and we will roll out the sites when we think it is a fit time to do so.

Reporter: How would you comment on recent property market sentiment, and have we seen a slowing down in transactions since the removing of all cooling measures? And also, inventory of unsold units still stands at a relatively high level. How would that potentially affect developers' sentiment in bidding the upcoming residential site?
 
Secretary for Development: I think on the property market, it's quite obvious that the sentiment has yet to pick up, basically because of the economic situation, both the external environment, the high interest rate, and the geopolitical issues will have an impact on our local economy. And it takes time for the property market to pick up, and that's understandable. So under these circumstances, we take a prudent manner and roll out our sites in a paced manner. For this quarter, rolling out one residential site and also rolling out one quite large industrial site in Hung Shui Kiu to support our commitment to develop industries in the Northern Metropolis. So we think overall this is a balanced and prudent arrangement.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

     A man who went missing in Tin Sum has been located.

     Kwan Yuet-pui, aged 35, went missing after he was last seen in Hin Keng Estate on June 25 afternoon. His caretaker made a report to Police on June 26.

     The man was located in a hotel on Chak Cheung Street, Ma On Shan on July 2. He sustained no injuries and no suspicious circumstances were detected.

     The Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Ms Louise Ho, yesterday (July 3) led 10 Customs officers and 50 members of "Customs YES" to Sichuan to learn about the national cultural heritage conservation works.

     Ms Ho and the Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Administrator of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, Mr Li Qun, yesterday attended the opening ceremony of the 2nd Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao Course on Capacity Building to Prevent Illegal Trafficking of Cultural Heritage, which was jointly organised by the National Cultural Heritage Administration and Hong Kong Customs. 

     A total of 36 enforcement and cultural heritage conservation officers from the three places, including 10 Hong Kong Customs officers and officers from the Chengdu Customs District, the Hong Kong Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the Hong Kong Development Bureau, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Macao Customs Service, the Macao Judiciary Police, the Macao Public Security Police Force and the Macao Cultural Affairs Bureau, participated in the five-day course. The participating Hong Kong Customs officers will become members of the National Cultural Heritage Identification Team of the department, shouldering the responsibilities for combating the trafficking of national cultural heritage and providing support to other frontline officers in the identification and handling of national cultural heritage. 

     Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ms Ho encouraged the officers to treasure the invaluable learning opportunity, fully devote themselves, and get well prepared to accomplish the mission of protecting national cultural heritage.

     On the same day, Ms Ho led 50 "Customs YES" members on a visit to the Sichuan University Museum, where they joined a lacquer painting workshop of the "Sun and Immortal Birds". She encouraged the members to learn about the profound and precious history of the country and to preserve the excellent Chinese culture through experiencing traditional craftsmanship.

     Ms Ho today (July 4) led the delegation of "Customs YES" to attend the opening ceremony of the 2nd Sichuan-Hong Kong-Macao-Taiwan Youth Exchange and Cooperation Week and launch ceremony of "Thousands of Hong Kong Youth Exploring Sichuan". In her speech, Ms Ho encouraged the participants to embrace the ideals and aspirations of "contributing to the prosperity of the country and the rejuvenation of the nation", and to utilise their strengths to become a new impetus for promoting national development and integration among the four places.

     During her visit, Ms Ho also paid a courtesy call to the Chengdu Customs District to strengthen co-operation. Moreover, she visited Chengdu Tianfu International Airport and met with the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Chengdu, Mr Enoch Yuen.