Tag Archives: China

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (January 4) investigating an imported cluster of bacillary dysentery infection affecting six persons, and reminded members of the public to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene to prevent infection.

     The cluster involves three male and three female participants of a tour group which travelled from Hong Kong to Türkiye. The six of them, aged between 38 and 60, presented with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis including abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting since December 21 last year. Four of them sought medical consultation and one of them required hospitalisation. All the affected persons are in stable condition. The stool specimens of one person yielded Shigella sonnei.

     An epidemiological investigation by the CHP revealed that the tour group comprised 10 persons and had stayed in Türkiye from December 14 to 22 last year. They had meals at various restaurants and hotels there. According to the epidemiological investigation and information such as incubation periods of the patients, the CHP believes that the infection sources are the following restaurants/hotels:
 

Area	Name of restaurant
NevÅŸehir	Restaurant at Avrasya Hotel
NevÅŸehir	Dede Efendi Restaurant
Bolu	Restaurant at Koru Hotel
Ankara	Anit restaurant

     The investigation is ongoing. Meanwhile, the CHP appealed to members of the public who have visited Türkiye, have a similar travel history, and consumed food at the aforementioned restaurants in mid to late December last year to seek medical attention as soon as possible if they develop relevant symptoms. They should also notify doctors about their travel history and the possibility of involving bacillary dysentery.

     Bacillary dysentery is an intestinal infection caused by a group of Shigella bacteria which can be found in the human gut. It is transmitted directly by the faecal material of a patient/carrier or indirectly through contaminated food and water. It is also a cause of travellers’ diarrhoea.

     A spokesman for the CHP advised members of the public to maintain good personal and environmental hygiene to avoid infection. They should also take heed of the following:
 

• wash hands properly with soap and water before eating or handling food, and after going to the toilet or changing diapers;
• avoid high-risk food like shellfish, raw food or semi-cooked food;
• boil water and cook food thoroughly before consumption;
• purchase fresh food from reliable sources, and do not patronise unlicensed street vendors; and
• seek medical attention when they have symptoms of fever and diarrhoea, especially bloody diarrhoea.

     For more details, please visit CHP’s bacillary dysentery page. read more

     Regarding the incident announced on December 28, 2023, where samples of pigs from a Yuen Long pig farm tested positive for African Swine Fever (ASF), the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) launched a… read more

     The Government announced today (January 4) the quarterly land sale programme for the fourth quarter of 2023-24, i.e. January to March 2024.
      
     The Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, said that in the fourth quarter of 2023-24, the Government will sell by tender an industrial site near Yuen Long InnoPark for the development of multi-storey building(s) for modern industries, in order to promote the development of industries and consolidate brownfield operations in a land-efficient manner. The industrial site is around 3.2 hectares in size and is able to provide around 160 000 square metres of floorspace. The Government will request the developer, under specific land sale conditions, to set aside and transfer no less than 30 per cent of the floorspace to the Government so as to lease the floorspace to brownfield operators affected by the Government’s development projects at a rental comparable with the market rental of existing brownfield sites. As this is a new arrangement, the Government invited the market to submit expressions of interest from June to August last year to confirm the feasibility of the above proposal, and pursuant to mainstream opinions, combined a few smaller sites into this single site for tender and development in order to enhance cost-effectiveness. The Government is formulating the tender details for an announcement at the tender commencement. 
      
     For private housing land, the Government estimates that eight private development and redevelopment projects would have their lease modification processes completed in the fourth quarter, capable of producing about 1 630 flats. Adding on the supply of 1 940 flats from the Starter Homes project at Yau Kom Tau, Tsuen Wan, to be entrusted to the Hong Kong Housing Society, private housing land supply in the fourth quarter is expected to support the development of around 3 570 flats. Taking into account the expected quarterly supply from various sources, the fact that this year’s supply is rather near the annual supply target, and that market sentiment in land tenders is rather sluggish recently, the Government will not separately put up any residential site for sale in the fourth quarter.
      
     “Land supply from various sources in the first three quarters of this financial year is expected to have a capacity to support around 7 960 flats. This includes three government land sale sites successfully sold; two projects taken forward by the Urban Renewal Authority; 23 lease modification cases; as well as 19 private development projects not requiring lease modifications.  Together with the supply of an estimated 3,570 flats expected from the fourth quarter, the total land supply in this financial year is expected to support some 11,530 flats, which is close to our annual target (12,900 flats),” Ms Linn said. As this figure has not reflected private development projects not requiring lease modifications in the fourth quarter, when the statistics are subsequently available, the Government will wrap up the total supply situation before the end of the current financial year.
      
     Separately, considering that the vacancy rate of commercial floor space remains on the high side, the Government will not be rolling out any commercial sites for sale in this quarter.

     The Government will hold on to its determination to increase the land supply, and will continue to provide land to the market for economic and residential development in a prudent and paced manner. In the process, the Government will continue to monitor the market situation and holistically consider supply from various sources so as to make fitting arrangements for each quarter.
           
     Information of the site to be tendered in January to March 2024 is at the Annex. The actual tender timetable will be drawn up taking into account the progress of necessary preparatory work. The Lands Department will announce the detailed land sale arrangements before the site is put up for tender. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:      The spokesman for Kwai Chung Hospital (KCH) made the following announcement today (January 4):        A male patient and two female patients (aged… read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

　　The Hospital Authority Academy (HAA) staged its inauguration ceremony today (January 4). The HAA consolidates the current five corporate training institutes under the Hospital Authority (HA), to strengthen collaboration with external training institutes and enhance training programme credentials, so as to nurture professionals for the entire public healthcare industry.
 
　　The inauguration ceremony was officiated by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the company of the Chairman of the HA, Mr Henry Fan; the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko; the Head of the HAA, Dr David Sun, and members of Board of the HAA.
 
　　Professor Lo was pleased to note that the HAA was established last year with a commitment to promote a sustainable human resources strategy in the HA. He said, “Continuing professional development is an integral part of maintaining quality healthcare services, while upholding and uplifting professional skills, knowledge, and competencies are the keys to meeting the standard of good medical practices. I firmly believe that the establishment of the HAA will nurture more talent for the healthcare industry in Hong Kong, and help attract more talent to join the HA so as to better safeguard public health and enhance the standards of healthcare services.”
 
　　Mr Fan said, “To cope with the challenges of an ageing population and the increasing demand for public healthcare services, staff training and development is the key in sustainable human resources strategy in the HA. The establishment of the HAA marks an important milestone in talent training for Hong Kong’s public healthcare industry. The HAA strives to become an iconic corporate training institution providing structured, innovative, and cutting-edge training to facilitate professional progression and self-enhancement for staff, bringing new thoughts and ideas to healthcare training so as to enhance the medical standards in Hong Kong and promote Hong Kong to be an important global healthcare hub.”
 
　　The HAA consolidates the training programmes of existing corporate training institutes of the HA, namely the Institute of Advanced Allied Health Studies, the Institute of Advanced Nursing Studies, the Institute of Health IT, the Institute of Vocational Training, and HA Nursing Schools, uplifting the training to a more professional and higher level. Several key training strategies have been mapped out, including:
 
1. Expand the scope of training to cater to the diverse needs and development trends of the healthcare industry;
2. Enhance the credentials of selective HA professional training programmes by pegging them to the Qualifications Framework;
3. Optimise training resources and make use of innovation and technology to promote staff learning; and
4. Establish networks with external parties to enhance training capacity and opportunities for the HA.
 
　　Professional teams are the backbone of the public healthcare system and are crucial to the effectiveness of delivering quality medical services. The HAA will actively provide professional and generic competencies training programmes for staff, not only to address the development and demand for healthcare services in future, but also enable career development and progression of staff in order to attract the younger generation to join the HA.

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