Hong Kong Customs detected two dangerous drugs internal concealment cases involving two passengers at Hong Kong International Airport and seized about 2.2 kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $2.7 million over the past two days (November 3 and 4).

     The first case involved a 48-year-old male passenger who arrived in Hong Kong from Entebbe, Uganda via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on November 3. During Customs clearance, Customs officers suspected that the passenger had dangerous drugs concealed inside his body cavity. He was then escorted to the hospital for examination. Upon examination, the man was confirmed by a doctor to have foreign objects concealed inside his body cavity. He was arrested immediately. As at 4pm today (November 5), the arrested man has discharged 68 pellets of suspected cocaine weighing about 1kg in total.

     The second case involved a 34-year-old female passenger who arrived in Hong Kong from Johannesburg, South Africa, yesterday. During Customs clearance, Customs officers suspected that the passenger had dangerous drugs concealed inside her body cavity. She was then escorted to the hospital for examination. Upon examination, the woman was confirmed by a doctor to have foreign objects concealed inside her body cavity. She was arrested immediately. As at 4pm today, the arrested woman has discharged 98 pellets of suspected cocaine weighing about 1.2kg in total.

     The arrested man of the first case was laid a holding charge with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug and will appear at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (November 6). For the second case, an investigation is ongoing.

     Following the resumption of normal travel and exchanges with the Mainland and other parts of the world, the number of visitors to Hong Kong has also been increasing steadily. Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002/).

    

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (November 5) reported an update on the investigations of the suspected Mycobacterium abscessus infection cluster. Currently, the suspected Mycobacterium abscessus infection cluster involved a total of 17 females.

     The CHP has set up an enquiry hotline (2125 2372) for the related cases, which operates from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) from 9am to 5.30pm. The hotline also operated from 9am to 1pm yesterday (November 4) and today to receive enquiries. The hotline was set up on November 3 and as of 1pm today, 11 calls were received, among which five females, aged 25 to 32, said that they had received relevant injection services and developed compatible symptoms.

     In addition, the CHP has not identified new premises involved in the cases since the set up of the hotline. The CHP again appeals to persons who have patronised the following premises, or have arranged and received relevant injections via the following Instagram social media accounts after which presented with relevant symptoms, should seek medical attention and call the hotline immediately. Officers of the CHP will assess their condition and arrange for follow-up as appropriate.
 

     Based on information obtained in a preliminary investigation, the CHP cannot rule out the possibility of illegal medical practice. Investigations are ongoing.

     The DH reminded members of the public that injection procedures should only be performed by a locally registered doctor. Customers should look for his or her full name against the list of registered doctors of the Medical Council of Hong Kong as well as his or her professional qualifications and relevant experience. The DH also urged the public to observe the health advice below before receiving injections:

• Understand the procedure, potential risks and complications before receiving injections. Consult a doctor for an informed decision;
• Do not receive an injection in the case of a history of allergy to the injection, or infection or inflammation on the injection site;
• Request the full name of the doctor in writing if referred by a beauty service provider for the procedure, as well as the professional qualifications and relevant experience; and
• If symptoms develop, such as fever or feeling unwell, seek medical attention immediately.

     The public may visit the DH's webpage on the differentiation between medical procedures and beauty services and the Drug Database of the Drug Office for more information. 

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     â€‹The spokesman for the Hospital Authority (HA) made the following announcement today (November 5) regarding the service arrangement of some elective surgeries due to the Field Safety Corrective Action notice against an insufflator device issued by the supplier:

     The HA received notification from the Department of Health (DH) that the Field Safety Corrective Action notice was issued by the supplier against an insufflation device (Olympus High Flow Insufflation Unit, Model UHI-4), which is mainly used for laparoscopic or endoscopic surgeries, due to its risk of causing patients' arrhythmias and cardiac arrest during operations. After the assessment, as a precautionary measure, the HA decided to suspend the use of 142 insufflation devices of the model concerned immediately in public hospitals to dovetail with the concerned notice.

     The HA is very concerned about the incident and, upon receiving notification from the DH, immediately worked with different hospital operation theatres to assess the situation. The HA has implemented a series of contingency measures, including using alternative devices of other brands or models, and deploying alternative devices among hospitals to maintain emergency surgeries. In addition, the HA has requested other suppliers to support the services by providing alternative devices in stock urgently. It is expected that the first batch of alternative devices will be distributed to public hospitals within the coming week.

     In order to mobilise resources to maintain emergency surgeries, it is estimated that around 30 elective surgeries, mainly laparoscopic minimally invasive surgeries, scheduled at Tuen Mun Hospital, Pok Oi Hospital and Caritas Medical Centre are required to reschedule in the coming week. Healthcare staff are notifying patients affected and will reschedule their operations as soon as possible. Emergency surgeries in public hospitals are not affected.

     The HA has contacted the supplier to express concerns regarding the safety corrective action of the devices and requested it to resolve the problems, together with taking remedial measures to minimise the impact on patient services as soon as practicable.

     The HA will continue to closely liaise with the DH and the supplier to follow up on the incident.

     The Department of Health (DH) today (November 5) announced that it has received a Field Safety Corrective Action (FSCA) notice from the Olympus Hong Kong and China Limited (Olympus) regarding one of their products, namely the Olympus High Flow Insufflation Unit (Model number: UHI-4). Olympus has become aware of patients experiencing complications due to excessive insufflation during use and the DH is closely monitoring the situation. To date, the DH has not received any reports of adverse events related to this issue.

     The device is mainly used by doctors to inflate the abdomen or colon with carbon dioxide gas during laparoscopic or endoscopic surgeries. Over insufflation may lead to complications including air embolism, arrhythmias, pneumothorax, and potentially death. The concerned device in this incident would not be used or operated by general public, and it is not listed under the Medical Device Administrative Control System set up by the DH.

     A spokesman for the DH stated that its Medical Device Division (MDD) has always been closely monitoring safety alerts of medical device issued by relevant local and overseas regulatory authorities as well as the World Health Organization, under the established mechanism, and will take action according to actual circumstances as appropriate, including maintaining contacts with local suppliers and notify relevant stakeholders, such as the Hospital Authority, private hospitals, and medical professional associations, as well as publishing safety alert summary and special alerts on its website etc.

     The DH noticed that a medical device recall was issued by the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 31, requesting Olympus America to notify users in the US to cease using the affected device until a root cause investigation is completed. The DH has taken a proactive approach with a view to ensuring safety and addressing the issue effectively. The MDD of the DH has swiftly reached out to Olympus to obtain information regarding the incident, and requested them to notify affected customers and ensure appropriate follow-up actions are carried out. Also, the MDD has posted a Special Alert on its website to provide the latest development of the incident and updated information. In addition, the DH also promptly informed relevant stakeholders about the latest situation and urged them to contact the supplier as soon as possible if they are utilising the concerned device.

     According to information provided by Olympus, approximately 200 units of the concerned device have been distributed to public hospitals, private hospitals and a day procedure centre locally. Olympus has informed users through an FSCA notice, highlighting cases of patients experiencing complications due to over insufflation during use and includes an amendment to the instructions for use, aimed at reducing the risk of such complications. The DH understands that the process of notifying the affected institutes has been completed yesterday (November 4).

     "The DH will continue to closely monitor the situation and maintain ongoing communication with the relevant local supplier and stakeholders." the spokesman added.

     Police Hong Kong Island Regional Headquarters, together with the Hospital Authority, the Fire Services Department, the Transport Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Lands Department and the Hong Kong Electric, conducted an inter-departmental major incident exercise codenamed "PHOENIXSPIN" at the Tung Wah Eastern Hospital in Happy Valley this morning (November 5). The exercise simulated a large-scale power outage in the area to enhance the collaboration, prevention, and emergency response capabilities of Police and stakeholders.

     The first part began with a tabletop exercise, which simulated a major power outage with authentic situations in Wan Chai district during peak hours and a series of subsequent events triggered as a result. Various unexpected incidents were also included in the exercise, requiring immediate deployment to test the response capabilities and response plans of respective departments as well as their collaboration with stakeholders.

     The second part of the exercise involved a practical simulation, simulating the impact of the incident on the Tung Wah Eastern Hospital, where the backup generators also failed, resulting in the need to urgently transfer some patients to other hospitals. This aimed to test and strengthen the personnel's ability to plan and execute large-scale inter-departmental rescue operations.

     The exercise utilised for the first time the Geospatial Analytics, Information and Applications (GAIA) system developed by the Innovation and Solution Lab, Information Systems Wing of Police. The system can provide the spatial information of a specific location by presenting various terrains and buildings in a three-dimensional format. As a result, participating units will be able to quickly understand the relevant terrains and situation in the event of an accident, as well as formulate and execute the optimal action plan based on different situations, thereby enhancing rescue efficiency.

     Police will continue to maintain close contact with stakeholders, conduct regular inter-department exercises, and review contingency plans for major incidents to strengthen co—ordination between different departments and organisations.