In response to media enquiries about a number of students of a secondary school in Sha Tin developed gastroenteritis symptoms after joining an exchange tour to the Mainland, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health responded today (March 10) as follows:
      
     "Upon receiving media enquiries late last night (March 9), the CHP took the initiative to contact the secondary school concerned for more information. It was learnt that about 120 teachers and students from the school went on an exchange tour to Shaoguan in Guangdong Province on March 6 and 7. On the day of their return to Hong Kong, two of the students developed acute gastroenteritis (AGE) symptoms in the morning and noon respectively while one of them vomited after alighting the coach in the afternoon. Subsequently, 21 students who participated in the same exchange tour developed AGE symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever between March 8 and 10. Nine of them sought medical attention and none required hospitalisation.
      
     The CHP is investigating the source of this AGE outbreak from different aspects, including the possibility of transmission through person-to-person, or contaminated food or environment. The CHP has notified the Guangdong authority on the information of the relevant restaurants. The CHP will continue to follow up the incidents, including collecting stool specimen of patients for laboratory testing and providing advice to the school on infection control measures. The CHP's investigation is ongoing.
      
     Viral gastroenteritis is more commonly seen in cooler months and can be caused by a variety of viruses, most commonly norovirus and rotavirus. The main symptoms of viral gastroenteritis are diarrhoea and vomiting. Other symptoms include headache, fever, and abdominal cramps. In general, the symptoms begin one to two days following infection with a virus that causes gastroenteritis. Depending on the type of viruses causing the illness, however, the symptoms may last for one to 10 days.  
      
     Alcohol-based handrub should not substitute hand hygiene with liquid soap and water, as alcohol does not effectively kill some viruses frequently causing AGE, for example, norovirus. To prevent foodborne diseases, members of the public are advised to observe good personal, food and environmental hygiene. When eating out, the following points should be observed:
      

• Ensure proper personal hygiene;
• Wash hands thoroughly before handling food and eating, after using the toilet or after changing diapers;
• Wear gloves when disposing of vomitus or faecal matter, and wash hands afterwards;
• Clean and disinfect contaminated areas or items promptly and thoroughly with diluted household bleach (by adding one part of bleach containing 5.25 per cent sodium hypochlorite to 49 parts of water). Wash hands thoroughly afterwards;
• Maintain good indoor ventilation;
• Pay attention to food hygiene;
• Use separate utensils to handle raw and cooked food;
• Avoid food that is not thoroughly cooked;
• Drink boiled water; and
• Do not patronise unlicensed food premises or food stalls.

     
     The public may visit the CHP's website for more information and preventive advice on Viral Gastroenteritis."
 

     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, today (March 10) met with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, who is visiting Hong Kong, to exchange views on public health issues.
      
     Professor Lo said, "Hong Kong, China is in the WHO Western Pacific Region. Representatives of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government attend the World Health Assembly of the WHO as a member of the Chinese delegation every year. The HKSAR Government has been strenuously supporting and collaborating with the WHO and the nation in tackling various public health challenges, striving to safeguard public health and contribute to global public health. The Department of Health (DH) has been designated as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Smoking Cessation and Treatment of Tobacco Dependence. The Public Health Laboratory Services Branch of the Centre for Health Protection of the DH has also been designated as a reference laboratory for various communicable diseases, making significant contributions to global anti-epidemic work." 
      
     At the meeting, Professor Lo gave Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala an overview of the highly efficient public healthcare system in Hong Kong. Professor Lo said, "As the main provider of public healthcare services, the Hospital Authority (HA) is the cornerstone of Hong Kong's healthcare system. It serves nearly 90 per cent of Hong Kong’s population of some 7.5 million and provides integrated healthcare services that are heavily subsidised by the Government at nearly 98 per cent, so as to ensure that no citizen is denied appropriate healthcare services due to financial difficulty. The HKSAR Government has established a robust healthcare safety net for citizens, and Hong Kong's healthcare system has taken the world lead in terms of quality and efficiency for many years.
      
     "However, with an ageing population and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, the HKSAR Government needs to keep abreast of the times and reform the healthcare system, with a view to optimising the use of precious and limited healthcare resources, and ensuring the sustainability of Hong Kong's healthcare system to cope with the increasing healthcare needs of members of the public."
      
     Professor Lo also introduced Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala to Hong Kong's strategies in promoting the development of primary healthcare. The HKSAR Government released the Primary Healthcare Blueprint in December 2022, and is committed to building a prevention-oriented and community-based healthcare system, as well as providing personalised, coherent and comprehensive healthcare services to citizens through initiatives such as the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme and the District Health Centre network. The HKSAR Government will continue to promote primary healthcare development on all fronts and strengthen primary healthcare services as a whole, with a view to contributing to the WHO's vision of health equity.
      
     The Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko, and a number of officials of the Health Bureau and the DH, also attended the meeting today.

      

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority.

     The spokesman for Kwong Wah Hospital (KWH) made the following statement today (March 10) regarding an incident of a nurse suspected to have been indecently assaulted:



     A nurse was suspected to have been indecently assaulted while working at the Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) nurse station this morning. Upon receiving the report, the hospital immediately reported the incident to the Police. A male patient was subsequently arrested by the Police in the A&E.


      
     KWH is highly concerned about the incident. The hospital strongly condemns the suspected indecent act against its staff member, resolutely adopts a zero-tolerance attitude towards this incident, and will follow up while fully co-operating with the Police's investigation.



     The hospital has expressed sympathy and provided support to the nurse concerned.
The hospital has reported the incident to the Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advance Incident Reporting System.
 

     The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, attended the donation ceremony of the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and Sino Group in support of AI development in Hong Kong today (March 10), witnessing the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and Sino Group donate $200 million to the Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center (HKGAI) under the InnoHK research clusters to support the centre in establishing a service platform to provide Hong Kong citizens with the chatbot service "HKChat" based on the locally developed large language model HKGAI V1. During the ceremony, the Director of the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and Deputy Chairman of Sino Group, Mr Daryl Ng, presented the cheque to the Provost of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Director of InnoHK HKGAI, Professor Guo Yike. The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, and the Commissioner for Innovation and Technology, Mr Ivan Lee, attended and witnessed the donation ceremony.

     Mr Chan expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and Sino Group for their support. He said that currently, AI is undergoing rapid development, which is redefining the core competitiveness of economies and reshaping the medium- to long-term landscape of the global economy. During the third session of the 14th National People's Congress and the third session of the 14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee last week, Premier Li Qiang mentioned the need to continue advancing the "AI+" initiative in the Government Work Report, emphasising support for the extensive application of large-scale AI models, as well as the integration of digital technologies with our country’s manufacturing and market strengths. By fostering closer collaboration among the Government and the industry, academia, research and investment sectors, accelerating the development of AI as a core industry of Hong Kong, the city can be developed into an international exchange and co-operation hub for the AI industry.

     Mr Ng said, "We are pleased to foster the holistic development of the I&T (innovation and technology) ecosystem while supporting the Government's goal of attracting and encouraging more international talent to Hong Kong. It is an honour to contribute to this significant milestone for AI development in Hong Kong, facilitating locally developed AI platforms to be accessible to both industry and the public. We are thankful for the opportunity to support the development of a more inclusive AI future that will benefit the lives of the people of Hong Kong."

     Professor Guo stated, "This generous donation will provide tremendous momentum to our research and development efforts. While expressing our profound gratitude, we are deeply aware of the expectations from Hong Kong society and the responsibilities that lie on our shoulders. Having recently launched our new model HKGAI V1, we are currently fully engaged in developing and optimising this model as well as a series of applications. In particular, we are developing the 'HKChat', a locally developed AI chatbot service to be used by Hong Kong citizens. This donation has provided crucial support for this endeavour. We will strive to ensure our work meets and exceeds expectations." 

     InnoHK is a major I&T initiative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government which aims to foster global research collaboration, comprising Health@InnoHK, which focuses on healthcare technologies, and AIR@InnoHK, which focuses on artificial intelligence and robotics technologies, with a total of 30 research centres established. InnoHK has successfully formed collaborations with more than 30 world-renowned universities and research institutes, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, etc. The collaborating non-local universities and research institutions are from 12 different economies, pooling together about 2 500 researchers locally and from all over the world.

     The HKGAI is one of the 30 research centres under InnoHK. Its goal is to establish Hong Kong's own AI foundational models and ecosystem. The HKGAI is developing a series of open-source foundational models to create technologies applicable to text and image generation, medical diagnosis, legal affairs and other applications. Furthermore, the centre will develop "HKChat", an AI chatbot that integrates local data, knowledge bases, and language requirements, supporting Cantonese, English, and Putonghua.

    

     The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, arrived in Guangzhou this morning (March 10) to begin his two-day visit.
 
     Mr Yau first called on the Director General of the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, Mr Zhang Jinsong, to exchange views on deepening economic and trade co-operation between Guangdong and Hong Kong, including attracting businesses and investments, with a view to assisting Guangdong enterprises to go global while bringing in foreign enterprises and investments via Hong Kong's two-way platform, thereby jointly promoting the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
 
     Mr Yau then attended a forum on innovation development and the award presentation ceremony of the Gold Pilot Award 2024 organised by the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in Guangdong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).
 
     Addressing the event, Mr Yau said that reform and innovation are key directions for the development of enterprises, which are conducive to exploring new growth areas and opening new markets. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government will strive to fully utilise Hong Kong's bridging role between the Mainland and the world in developing Hong Kong into a multinational supply chain management centre to attract more Mainland enterprises to establish a foothold in the city and set up international or regional headquarters for managing offshore trading and supply chain.
 
     He pointed out that the Mainland has become the world's largest e-commerce market amid the rapid growth of e-commerce businesses worldwide in recent years, adding that the HKSAR Government has launched E-commerce Easy to provide funding support to enterprises for implementing e-commerce projects to tap into the Mainland domestic market. Meanwhile, the HKTDC will continue to organise the Hong Kong Shopping Festival on Mainland e-commerce platforms in August this year to enhance brand awareness of Hong Kong products and drive sales.
 
     Mr Yau also encouraged Hong Kong businessmen in Guangdong Province to actively participate in innovation and entrepreneurship on the Mainland to contribute to national development. He said that the latest Agreement Concerning Amendment to the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement Agreement on Trade in Services came into effect on March 1, making it easier for Hong Kong enterprises and professionals to access to the Mainland market.
 
     Mr Yau will proceed to Dongguan tomorrow (March 11) to continue his visit.