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 culling operation on the farm concerned the next day. The operation was completed today (January 4).

     An AFCD spokesman said, "According to the contingency plan on ASF, the AFCD has sent staff to cull and handle a total of 1 126 pigs on the licensed farm in San Tin, Yuen Long, since December 29. The operation was completed today. All culled and handled pigs were sent to the West New Territories Landfill for dumping according to established procedures."

     The spokesman further said, "The AFCD will arrange thorough cleaning and disinfection of the farm, and has notified the World Organisation for Animal Health of this incident. An investigation and tracing of the source of the virus in collaboration with international experts is underway."

     Regarding the eight pig farms within three kilometres of the index farm, transport of any pigs from them is still suspended for the sake of prudence. Once the pig culling operations of other pig farms with pigs found with the ASF virus in the related zone are completed, the AFCD will arrange veterinary inspection of the pig farms in the area and collect further samples from pigs for ASF virus testing as appropriate. If no abnormal health condition is noted on the pigs, and all samples have tested negative for the ASF virus, pigs on these pig farms would be allowed to be transported to slaughterhouses.

     The AFCD will continue to keep local pig farms under close surveillance as well as conducting tests if necessary. The AFCD has also reminded all farmers to ensure biosecurity measures have been properly implemented and alert the Department immediately if an abnormal health condition is observed in pigs. Meanwhile, AFCD staff are currently inspecting all local licensed pig farms to ensure biosecurity measures have been properly implemented. Surveillance of activities of wild pigs in the vicinity of the index farm has also been stepped up.

     The spokesman stressed that ASF is not a zoonotic disease and will not infect humans, hence does not present any food safety risk. Pork cooked thoroughly is safe for consumption. Members of the public do not need to be concerned. The incident does not affect the operation of local slaughterhouses nor the overall supply of live pigs.

     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.

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 23 to 60) in a rehabilitation ward (EXITERS) of KCH have presented with fever and respiratory symptoms since January 3.
 
     Appropriate viral tests had been arranged for the patients and their test results were positive for Influenza A. One patient is currently hospitalised at Princess Margaret Hospital for other medical needs, while other patients are being treated in isolation in KCH. All the patients are in stable condition.
 
     Admission and visiting arrangements to the ward concerned have been suspended. Infection control measures have already been enhanced according to established guidelines. The hospital will continue to closely monitor the conditions of the patients in 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:

　　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.

    

     The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, visited Dongguan today (January 4) to meet with the Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress and the Secretary of the CPC Dongguan Municipal Committee, Mr Xiao Yafei, and attend the 2024 GBA iForum cum Dinner. Joining was the Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Clement Woo.
      
     Mr Lee and Mr Xiao met to exchange views on further promoting co-operation between Hong Kong and Dongguan, and the development opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
      
     Mr Lee noted that Hong Kong and Dongguan enjoy close geographical and cultural ties, and have been maintaining seamless collaboration with remarkable achievements. On promoting logistics connectivity, the Airport Authority Hong Kong has set up the Hong Kong International Airport Logistics Park in Dongguan to promote the "sea-air intermodal cargo transshipment" mode, which has enhanced the international connectivity of cargo services in the GBA and further improved the international competitiveness of the manufacturing as well as import and export industries in the GBA. He said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will press ahead with the construction of a permanent facility for the logistics park, with the first-phase construction to be completed by the end of next year.
      
     On education co-operation, the first phase of campus construction of the City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan) was completed in August last year, and the university is currently working at full steam in preparing for its official establishment. Mr Lee expressed his hope that the university, upon its official commissioning, will contribute to the nurturing of innovative and internationalised top-notch talent for the country with its first-class educational resources and strengths in various disciplines.
      
     Mr Lee said he hopes that Hong Kong and Dongguan will continue to maintain close co-operation under the principles of complementarity and mutual benefits, and make greater contributions to the construction of an international first-class bay area for living, working and travelling.
      
     In the afternoon, Mr Lee attended the 2024 GBA iForum. Addressing the forum, he said that GBA Mainland cities have a strong industrial foundation, and Hong Kong has the distinctive advantage of enjoying the strong support of the country while being closely connected to the world under "one country, two systems". As the GBA progresses towards high technology and high value-added development, Hong Kong will fully leverage its dual roles of "super connector" and "super value-adder", with a view to connecting the GBA and the international market, and providing Hong Kong’s high value-added professional services to the GBA.
      
     In the evening, Mr Lee visited the exhibition area of the forum and attended the forum dinner to exchange views with political and business leaders and representatives of enterprises in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Speaking at the dinner, Mr Lee expressed his hope for Hong Kong enterprises to make good use of the GBA as the best point of access to actively participate in the development of the GBA and contribute to the high-quality development of the country.
      
     Mr Lee will return to Hong Kong tomorrow (January 5).