Regarding the incident announced on December 9 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… read more
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (December 15) reminded the public, particularly the elderly and people with chronic illnesses, to adopt appropriate measures to protect their health in view of the forecasted significant drop in temperature in Hong Kong.
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 illness or other chronic illnesses.
“Elderly people have less insulating fat beneath their skin to keep them warm and their body temperature control mechanism may be weaker. Their body may not be able to appropriately respond to the cold weather,” the spokesman said.
Some senior persons may have decreased mobility, which can in turn 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:
The following is issued on behalf of the Environmental Campaign Committee:
The Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence (HKAEE) and Hong Kong Green Organisation Certification (HKGOC) Presentation Ceremony was held today (December 15) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, to commend winners for their outstanding performance in green management and their contributions to environmental protection. Winners of the 2022 Hong Kong Green Innovations Awards (HKGIA) and corporations certified as Hong Kong Green Organisations (HKGOs) in 2022 were also commended at the presentation ceremony. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the HKAEE, three Special Awards, namely the Super Gold Award, the Most Outstanding Promotional Partner Award and the Long Participation Award, have been established this year to recognise the continual support and outstanding performance of the organisations over the years.
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, congratulated the winning companies and organisations through a video speech at the ceremony. He commended the winners for their innovation and efforts in environmental protection, and recognised their outstanding contributions to a greener Hong Kong. He looks forward to the support from all sectors in collaborating with the Government to promote green innovation in pursuit of carbon neutrality for the country and Hong Kong.
The officiating guests of the ceremony included the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan; the Chairman of the Environment and Conservation Fund Committee, Dr Eric Cheng; the Vice-chairman of the Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC), Ms Jenny Li; the Awards Committee Chairman of the HKAEE, Dr Conrad Wong; the Convenor of the Education Working Group under the ECC, Mr Wong Chi-keung; and the Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Environment), Miss Janice Tse.
The HKAEE commends organisations that have demonstrated outstanding environmental performance in 14 different sectors. The three judging criteria are green leadership, programme and performance, and partner synergy. The HKGIA aims to encourage local organisations to tackle environmental challenges using new ideas that will benefit the environment. The three assessment criteria are level of innovation, environmental achievements, and practicability and contribution to society. After two rounds of assessment by the technical consultants, the participating companies/organisations were assessed by the final adjudicating panels comprising the ECC and representatives from major chambers of different sectors in Hong Kong for selection of the gold, silver and bronze winners.
The number of entries competing for the 2022 HKAEE reached a record high of 3 282, more than an eightfold increase compared with the figure for 2008, when the awards were launched. A total of 49 organisations won gold, silver or bronze awards this year, and 153 received certificates of merit. There were 80 entries in the 2022 HKGIA, a figure around five times higher than that of 2011 when the HKGIA was established. For the three 15th Anniversary Special Awards of the HKAEE, the Dairy Farm Company Limited – Wellcome was awarded the Super Gold Award for winning six gold awards in the past, the Seeding Green (Hong Kong) Limited was awarded the Most Outstanding Promotional Partner Award for partnering with a total of 45 companies in joining the HKAEE in the past, and 22 companies/organisations were awarded the Long Participation Award for joining the HKAEE continuously since 2008. To commend company management and employees for their dedication to enhancing the environmental performance of their respective companies and the community, five awardees were selected under the Outstanding Green Achiever Commendation Scheme. In addition, 17 organisations were honoured as Outstanding Promotional Partners. The detailed list of awardees can be accessed from the HKAEE website (www.hkaee.gov.hk).
The HKGOC aims to benchmark the green performance of organisations and encourages them to sustain their environmental initiatives in four major aspects, namely waste reduction, energy saving, carbon reduction and indoor air quality improvement by issuing them relevant certificates. Participating organisations can obtain the title of HKGO if they can demonstrate and attain certain environmental achievements such as winning HKAEE awards, signing any of the environment-related charters launched or supported by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government or possessing a valid ISO 14001 certificate. To date, over 3 100 organisations from different industries have obtained the HKGO status. At the ceremony today, representatives from 585 organisations which obtained the HKGO status in 2022 were presented with certificates in recognition of their environmental achievements.
The HKAEE and the HKGOC, with funding support from the Environment and Conservation Fund, are jointly organised by the ECC, the Environment and Ecology Bureau, the Advisory Council on the Environment, the Business Environment Council, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the Hong Kong Chinese Importers’ and Exporters’ Association, the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Productivity Council.
The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) announced today (December 15) that the incumbent Chief Executive Mr Nicolas Aguzin will not seek reappointment upon completion of his current contract. HKEX also announced that its Board of Directors has decided to appoint Ms Bonnie Chan, currently the Co-Chief Operating Officer, as the new Chief Executive following Mr Aguzin’s departure.
The Government expresses gratitude to Mr Aguzin for his contributions to Hong Kong’s financial market during his tenure as the Chief Executive of HKEX over the past three years. Since taking office in May 2021, he has made notable contributions and led HKEX in achieving a series of breakthroughs in securities market development and mutual access with the Mainland financial market, as well as promoting at the international level the unique position of Hong Kong as an international financial centre connecting the world and the Mainland.
The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, said, “During his term, Mr Aguzin has driven the development of Hong Kong’s stock market and enabled Hong Kong to continue serving as an internationally important platform for initial public offerings, and has also played a crucial role in strengthening HKEX’s international connections.”
“Ms Bonnie Chan has extensive working experience in HKEX. Over the past few years under her leadership, the Listing Division and other operating departments have introduced the new listing regime for Specialist Technology Companies, enhanced the listing mechanism for overseas issuers, etc. I am confident that under the guidance of its Board of Directors and with Ms Chan’s devoted efforts, HKEX will continue to achieve greater success in the future,” Mr Paul Chan added. read more
The Government today (December 15) urged members of the public again to heighten their vigilance against respiratory tract infection in winter. With the weather becoming cool, an increased activity in some respiratory pathogens is expected. Members of the public, especially high-risk groups, should receive COVID-19 vaccines and seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) at appropriate times for enhanced personal protection. Persons with respiratory symptoms, even if mild, are reminded to wear a surgical mask, refrain from work or attending classes at school, and seek medical advice promptly with a view to lowering the risk of transmission.
Speaking at a press conference today, the Controller of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH), Dr Edwin Tsui, said that with the approach of Christmas and New Year holidays, the chance for members of the public travelling outside Hong Kong increases. As the protection conferred by the vaccines will wane over time, Dr Tsui appealed to members of the public who have not received COVID-19 vaccines or SIV, in particular high-risk persons such as the elderly and residential care home (RCH) for the elderly (RCHE) residents, to get vaccinated as soon as possible for self-protection.
Regarding COVID-19 vaccines, the Government had procured a total of 200 000 doses of XBB mRNA vaccines (including Comirnaty Omicron XBB.1.5 30mcg/dose arrived in Hong Kong earlier and Spikevax XBB.1.5 0.1 mg/mL arrived last night (December 14)). Government staff had carried out stringent checking and inspection in accordance with established procedures to ensure that the vaccine complies with the product specifications and that the transportation process followed the relevant cold-chain requirements. The vaccines have been put in validated ultra-low temperature freezers to ensure its proper storage in accordance with the temperature specified by the drug manufacturer.
The Government has earlier announced the latest COVID-19 vaccination arrangements and those with higher risks, i.e. adult residents of RCHs and the elderly aged 65 or above, will be accorded priority to receive the XBB mRNA vaccines in the first phase. They can now make a booking through the Government online booking system at booking.covidvaccine.gov.hk/forms/index.jsp. If necessary, eligible persons can seek assistance for making online bookings from post offices (except mobile post offices). For venues providing XBB mRNA vaccines, please visit: www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/xbb_venues_dec2023_eng.pdf. According to experts’ views, all currently available COVID-19 vaccines in Hong Kong are effective in preventing severe disease. Details can be found on the CHP’s COVID-19 Vaccination Programme website.
The CHP has all along been closely monitoring the latest situation of respiratory infections in Hong Kong through monitoring laboratory specimens testing, hospital admission to public hospitals, disease outbreak reports, etc. For children, surveillance data in the past four weeks (as of December 9) revealed that the rhinovirus/enterovirus continues to have the highest activity level among the respiratory pathogens, accounting for over 30 per cent of the children respiratory specimens received by the Hospital Authority (HA), though the proportion in recent days has dropped. The next active pathogens are adenovirus and parainfluenza viruses (with the positive percentage of about 20 per cent each) and are on a rising trend. Meanwhile, according to the figures from the HA, the percentage of positive specimens for Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children in the past three months was about 3.5 per cent with the number of admission maintained at some 100 each month while the trend remains largely stable and has not reached the peak level in 2016 and 2019. On the other hand, the overall local seasonal influenza and COVID-19 activities continued to remain at a low level.
Dr Tsui said it is expected that respiratory infections will enter a period of high incidence in winter, and the latest surveillance data are in line with previous seasonal trends. As some of the abovementioned pathogens (including rhinovirus, parainfluenza viruses and Mycoplasma pneumoniae) are not vaccine-preventable, while members of the public strictly complied with social distancing and anti-epidemic measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, their immunity against respiratory pathogens apart from COVID-19 decreased. The CHP expected the activity of respiratory pathogens in winter will continue to increase, while that for seasonal influenza and COVID-19 will also increase in winter.
Apart from COVID-19 vaccines, the Government continue to launch SIV programmes. From September till now, a total of over 1.6 million doses of SIV have been administered so far in the 2023/24 season, representing an increase of 23 per cent comparing with the same period of last season. An obvious increase in SIV uptake this season for high-risk groups is observed, especially the elderly and children, when comparing with previous years. Vaccination at RCHE has covered 74 per cent of the residents by arranging visiting doctor’s outreach vaccination service, while the coverage rate of community elders increased by 15 per cent to the current 44 per cent. For children, through the concerted effort by stakeholders, the vaccination rate among children is now 49 per cent, which has increased by 45 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Vaccination is safe and effective in preventing seasonal influenza and COVID-19. Considering more activities may be held in RCHs during the Lunar New Year, it is necessary for the Government to keep driving up the vaccination rate of residents of RCHE and RCHs for people with disabilities for enhanced protection. A new round of outreach vaccination service special programme for RCHs was rolled out yesterday to provide vaccination for residents who are due to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Same as the previous arrangement, medical teams will visit RCHs at least once a week to provide outreach vaccination service, with a view to administering COVID-19 vaccines to every resident who is due to get vaccinated (especially for additional booster). In addition, medical teams will also provide SIV concurrently for residents who have yet received to attain dual protection.
The DH strongly urged members of the public that high-risk groups should receive SIV and COVID-19 booster as soon as possible. Regardless of the number of COVID-19 vaccines doses received previously, they should receive a booster dose to be given at least six months after the last dose or COVID-19 infection (whichever is later). For convenience sake, COVID-19 vaccine can be co-administered with SIV. Details of receiving both COVID-19 vaccination and SIV are available online (www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/106096.html).
​For the latest information, please visit the CHP’s influenza page and COVID-19 & Flu Express. As for vaccination, the public may visit the CHP’s Vaccination Schemes page. read more