Month: December 2025

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     The Health Bureau (HHB) announced earlier the medical support provided for residents affected by the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po. At present, the District Health Centres/District Health Centre Expresses (collectively referred to as DHCs) across all 18 districts in Hong Kong serve as hubs to co-ordinate various primary healthcare services as needed for the affected residents. The HHB announced today (December 25) the latest figures of these services:

DHC hotlines

     Under the co-ordination of the Primary Healthcare Commission (PHC Commission), the DHCs across all 18 districts in Hong Kong have set up hotlines since December 1 (see Annex 1) to provide personalised case management services for affected residents, offering more convenient and comprehensive medical support. The support includes pairing the affected residents with free consultation services provided by private family doctors and Chinese medicine (CM) practitioners, co-ordinating arrangements for follow-up appointments and medication refills at the Hospital Authority (HA)’s Family Medicine Out-patient (FMOP) Services as necessary, and making referrals to necessary healthcare, nursing and medication services, as well as psychological support. The services co-ordinated by DHCs are not subject to district boundaries. For example, the Centres may assist affected residents in transferring HA FMOP follow-up appointments and medication refill service points, from the Tai Po District to another location, thereby sparing residents the need for travelling across districts. As of December 23, the DHCs hotlines across all 18 districts have received over 176 enquiries in total.

Free consultations by family doctors and CM practitioners and free denture replacement services

     The HHB introduced a free family doctor service scheme and free CM consultation services on December 4 and 15 respectively to support the primary healthcare needs of the affected residents until February 28 next year. Case managers of the DHCs will arrange for them to receive up to three free consultations by family doctors and CM practitioners respectively based on their individual situations and preferences. The service covers the provision of medication and related treatments. Additionally, free denture replacement services were launched on December 23. Residents in need can receive at least one free dental consultation and one follow-up appointment (subject to clinical need) through the arrangement of the DHCs. The services include denture replacement and oral treatment.

     As of December 23, more than 300 private family doctors have participated in the free family doctor service scheme, covering more than 450 service points that include eight private hospitals. So far, 57 affected residents have been arranged to receive free family doctor consultations. As for the free CM consultation services, more than 360 CM practitioners have participated, covering more than 600 service points, and 16 residents have been arranged to receive the services so far. Regarding free denture replacement services, more than 80 private dentists have participated, covering 106 service points.

HA’s healthcare services

     All individuals injured in the fire and admitted to public hospitals under the HA will receive full fee waivers for all necessary healthcare services (including drugs and medical devices) throughout the entire process of their treatment and rehabilitation. A total of 79 patients received treatment at various public hospitals due to the fire. As of December 23, 65 of them had already recovered and were discharged, and the remaining 14 are in stable condition. Healthcare staff will continue to provide appropriate treatment and care to these patients.

     Moreover, all residents of the eight blocks at Wang Fuk Court (including foreign domestic helpers) are eligible for full medical fee waivers until December 31, 2026. The waivers cover in-patient services, family medicine and specialist out-patient clinics (SOPCs) services (including psychiatry SOPCs), accident and emergency services, day hospitals, day procedures, community services, and Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres under the HA. As of December 23, the HA has provided necessary healthcare services to around 1 600 affected residents.

Mental health support

     The “18111 – Mental Health Support Hotline” immediately deployed additional staff and strengthened training for its call handlers on the day of the fire incident to cope with the emotional distress that the public may experience due to the incident. From the time of the incident to December 23, the hotline has received over 8 300 calls, around 660 of which were related to the fire incident. The WhatsApp service has handled 420 messages, with about 50 of them concerning the fire incident. The HA’s 24-hour Mental Health Direct hotline, manned by psychiatric nurses, offers professional advice and support on mental health issues to callers, including provision of risk assessment and referral to the HA’s mental health services as appropriate. As of December 23, the Mental Health Direct hotline has received 89 calls related to the fire incident, with 31 of them coming from the affected citizens.

     The HHB will continue to provide comprehensive primary healthcare support to the affected residents. The HHB also designed the relevant service workflow from the residents’ perspective, allowing them to receive convenient and effective medical support simply through the DHCs (see Annex 2).

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (December 24) expressed dissatisfaction with and opposition to the unfounded comments by individual so-called human rights experts after the court of the HKSAR convicted Lai Chee-ying of offences of endangering national security in strict accordance with the law and evidence.

     A spokesperson for the HKSAR Government pointed out, “The HKSAR Government noted that individual so-called human rights experts have entirely no respect for the HKSAR court’s independent judgment of the case, which had been made on the basis of facts and evidence. They also refused to acknowledge the evidence set out in the reasons for verdict, and refused to understand the court’s considerations and the reasons for verdict. Instead, they wantonly launched attacks, slandered and attacked the HKSAR Government, with despicable political manipulations to demand the immediate release of Lai Chee-ying, overriding the rule of law with politics and confounding right and wrong. Their despicable intent to interfere with the court’s sentencing has been seen through by all. The HKSAR Government has to refute resolutely to set the record straight.” 
     The spokesman pointed out, “These so-called human rights experts have conflated the criminal acts in this case with freedom of speech and of the press, with the purpose of misleading the public and defaming the HKSAR. In fact, the Lai Chee-ying case has nothing to do with freedom of speech and of the press at all. Over the years, the defendants were using journalism as a guise to commit acts that brought harm to our country and Hong Kong.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (December 24) is investigating an imported measles case. The patient is the mother of the imported measles case announced yesterday (December 23). The CHP reminded members of the public who are non-immune to measles to ensure that they have completed two doses of measles vaccination before travelling to reduce the risk of infection.

The latest case involves a 22-year-old woman who developed fever on December 18 with no other symptoms and did not seek medical attention. As her son tested positive for the measles virus upon nucleic acid testing, the CHP found that the female patient developed symptoms during contact tracing and epidemiological investigation. She was then arranged to admit to hospital for testing. Her clinical specimen was tested positive for the measles virus upon nucleic acid testing. She is isolated for treatment at the Princess Margaret Hospital and is currently in stable condition.

The female patient stayed outside Hong Kong from October 1 to December 16. As she spent the whole incubation period outside Hong Kong, the case was classified as an imported case. An epidemiological investigation revealed that the female patient did not receive measles vaccination.

As the abovementioned two epidemiologically linked patients have visited a private clinic on December 19, the CHP has reached contacts who visited the private clinic during the same period on December 19, to identify if high risk persons were involved, and assessed if they had immunity against measles and arranged vaccinations for contacts who are non-immune. So far there are no pregnant women, persons with weakened immunity and infants under one year old among the contacts. The contacts did not present measles symptoms. The CHP will continue to put the relevant contacts under medical surveillance. Management of relevant private clinic was requested to report to the CHP if any persons develop measles symptoms for follow up.

The CHP’s investigation is ongoing.

“Measles remain as an endemic infection in many places around the world. The number of measles cases in some overseas countries has been increasing recently. The outbreaks in North America (including the United States and Canada), Europe and Southeast Asia areas (including Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines) are ongoing due to the relatively low vaccination rate. Furthermore, an increasing number of measles cases have also been recorded in Japan and Australia this year. Overseas cases mainly affected people who were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. This shows the importance of maintaining a high vaccination rate and herd immunity within the community. For those who plan to travel to areas with measles transmission, they should check their vaccination records and medical history as early as possible. If they have not been diagnosed with measles through laboratory tests and have never received two doses of measles vaccine or are not sure if they have received a measles vaccine, they should consult a doctor at least two weeks prior to their trip for vaccination. Pregnant women and women preparing for pregnancy who are non-immune to measles as well as children aged under one year who are not due for the first dose of Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) combined vaccine under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme, are advised not to travel to places with outbreaks of measles,” the Controller of the CHP, Dr Edwin Tsui, said.

“The incubation period of measles (i.e. the time from infection to onset of illness) is seven to 21 days. Symptoms include fever, skin rash, cough, runny nose and red eyes. If travellers returning from places with high incidence or outbreak of measles develop symptoms of measles (e.g. fever and rash), they should seek medical advice immediately and avoid contact with non-immune persons, especially pregnant women and infants under one year old. They should also report their symptoms and prior travel history to the healthcare workers so that appropriate infection control measures can be implemented at the healthcare facilities to prevent any potential spread,” Dr Tsui added.

     “Under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme, the overall immunisation coverage in Hong Kong has been maintained at a very high level through the immunisation services provided by the DH’s Maternal and Child Health Centres and School Immunisation Teams. As evidenced by the findings on vaccination coverage of primary school students and the territory-wide immunisation surveys conducted regularly by the DH, the two-dose measles vaccination coverage has remained consistently high, well above 95 per cent, and the local seroprevalence rates of measles virus antibodies reflect that most people in Hong Kong are immune to measles. However, Hong Kong, as a city with a high volume of international travel, still faces the potential risk of importation of the measles virus and its further spread in the local community. Hence, a small number of people who have not completed a measles vaccination (such as non-local-born people including new immigrants, foreign domestic helpers, overseas employees and people coming to Hong Kong for further studies) are still at risk of being infected and spreading measles to other people who do not have immunity against measles, such as children under 1 year old who have not yet received the first dose of the measles vaccine,” he continued.

     People born before 1967 could be considered to have acquired immunity to measles through natural infection, as measles was endemic in many parts of the world and in Hong Kong at that time. People born in or after 1967 who have not yet completed the two doses of measles vaccination or whose measles vaccination history is unknown, should consult their family doctors as soon as possible to complete the vaccination and ensure adequate protection against measles.

     Besides being vaccinated against measles, members of the public should take the following measures to prevent infection:
 

• Maintain good personal and environmental hygiene;
• Maintain good indoor ventilation;
• Keep hands clean and wash hands properly;
• Wash hands when they are dirtied by respiratory secretions, such as after sneezing;
• Cover the nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing and dispose of nasal and mouth discharge properly;
• Clean used toys and furniture properly; and
• Persons with measles should be kept out of school till four days from the appearance of a rash to prevent the spread of the infection to non-immune persons in school.

​For more information on measles, the public may visit the CHP’s measles thematic page. Members of the public who are going to travel can visit the website of the DH’s Travel Health Service for news of measles outbreaks outside Hong Kong.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

​Before the festive season holidays, the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of the Home Affairs Department conducted an operation codenamed “Solar Flare” against premises suspected of operating unlicensed hotels or guesthouses and licensed club-houses suspected of being in breach of licensing conditions in Yau Tsim Mong District, Wan Chai District and Central and Western District for five consecutive days from December 15 to 19, to ensure the safety of customers as well as the general public.

A spokesman for the OLA said, “During the operation, the OLA carried out surprise inspections of 48 premises. Six premises were suspected of operating unlicensed hotels or guesthouses, and two licensed club-houses were suspected of breaching certain licensing conditions. The OLA will initiate prosecution on cases with sufficient evidence after completion of the investigation.”

The spokesman stressed, “Operating unlicensed hotels or guesthouses is a criminal offence leading to a criminal record upon conviction. According to the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance, an offender is liable to three years’ imprisonment and a maximum fine of $500,000. A fine of $20,000 for each day can also be imposed during which the offence continues. A six-month closure order may also be issued for a hotel/guesthouse involved in a repeated offence. Moreover, according to the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance, an offender who contravenes any condition of a certificate of compliance (e.g. failure to produce a fire certificate on demand and carrying out alteration and addition works without seeking prior approval) is liable to a maximum fine of $100,000 and two years’ imprisonment. A fine of $10,000 for each day can also be imposed during which the offence continues.”

     To enhance deterrence against unlicensed hotels and guesthouses, the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance was amended in 2020 to empower the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Authority to apply to the court, upon the second conviction within 16 months of operating an unlicensed hotel or guesthouse or the new strict liability offence in respect of the same premises, to issue a closure order to close the premises for six months. As at December 15, the OLA has applied for four closure orders under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance from the court, of which two closure orders against two premises have been issued by the court.

     Apart from conducting special operations during festive seasons, the OLA is also stepping up efforts to combat unlicensed guesthouses via online platforms. The OLA has strengthened its intelligence collection by forming a dedicated team to browse webpages, mobile applications, social media, discussion forums, etc., to search for information and intelligence on suspected unlicensed guesthouses. The OLA’s law enforcement officers will initiate follow-up investigations when information on unlicensed guesthouses advertised via online platforms is found. The OLA also conducts publicity work on major Internet search engines outside Hong Kong to enable tourists to access information provided by the OLA in the course of planning their trips to Hong Kong.

Tourists and members of the public can make use of the search functions on the OLA’s website (www.hadla.gov.hk/) to check whether the hotel or guesthouse concerned is licensed or not. Any suspected unlicensed hotel or guesthouse should be reported to the OLA by the hotline (tel: 2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk), by fax (2504 5805), or through the mobile application “Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses”.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     With Christmas and New Year holidays approaching, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (December 24) reminded members of the public to pay attention to their health. Individuals should avoid excessive alcohol, salt, sugar and fat intake, and ensure adequate rest and sleep to prevent compromising the normal functioning of the immune system, which could make one more susceptible to illness. Regardless of whether they are staying in Hong Kong or travelling abroad for the holidays, the public should practise strict personal, food and environmental hygiene at all times, and get seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) early. These measures can help prevent various infectious diseases that are more prevalent in winter or associated with travel.

     “During gatherings with family, relatives and friends, people often unknowingly consume excessive amounts of alcohol or sugary drinks, cakes, desserts, and crispy snacks such as potato chips and fried food. Additionally, the Hong Kong Observatory forecasts a drop in temperatures over the next two days, which may lead more people to enjoy hotpot. During hot pot meals, people tend to add substantial amounts of high-fat and high-salt condiments. Amid the festive atmosphere, I would like to remind the public that it is crucial to control the amount of food intake, opt for high-fibre and low-fat food (consuming more fruit and vegetable and choosing steaming or boiling over frying), reduce the consumption of high-sugar and high-salt beverages and pastries, and maintain food hygiene. Get adequate exercise and rest so you can enjoy the holidays while staying healthy,” the Controller of the CHP, Dr Edwin Tsui, said.
 
Stay away from alcohol
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Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

​Hong Kong Customs conducted a two-week enforcement operation codenamed “Santa Guardian” from December 8 to 19 to combat counterfeit goods activities involving cross-boundary transshipments with the approach of Christmas. During the operation, Customs detected 28 related cases and seized about 83 000 suspected counterfeit goods with an estimated market value of over $36 million.

Customs discovered that criminals intended to ship counterfeit goods abroad via Hong Kong to meet the huge shopping demand with the approach of Christmas. As such, through risk assessment, Customs inspected one incoming lorry at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port Inbound Cargo Examination Building. After inspection, Customs officers seized about 3 600 suspected counterfeit goods with an estimated market value of about $3.1 million.

Moreover, through intelligence analysis and detailed investigations, 27 related cases were uncovered in a number of local logistics companies. In the operation, Customs officers mounted strike-and-search actions against multiple logistics companies, seizing about 79 000 suspected counterfeit goods, including watches, bags, footwear and clothing, with a total estimated market value of about $33 million.

Investigations of the abovementioned cases are ongoing.

Customs appeals to consumers to purchase goods at reputable shops or websites and to check with the trademark or copyright owners or authorised agents if the authenticity of a product is in doubt to avoid buying counterfeit or infringing goods.

Customs reminds practitioners in the logistics industry to comply with the requirements of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO) and to check with the trademark owners or authorised agents if the authenticity of a product is in doubt when handling cargoes. The department also reminds traders or online sellers not to sell counterfeit or infringing goods and to be cautious and prudent in merchandising since selling counterfeit or infringing goods is a serious crime and offenders are liable to criminal sanctions.

Customs will continue to step up inspections and conduct intelligence-led enforcement to vigorously combat different types of counterfeit and infringing goods activities.

Under the TDO, any person who imports or exports or sells or possesses for sale any goods to which a forged trademark is applied commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.

Members of the public may report any suspected counterfeiting activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (December 24) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in the Province of Pistoia of Tuscany Region in Italy, the District of Nordsachsen of the State of Sachsen in Germany, and SÅ‚upsk District of Pomorskie Region in Poland; and an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in Kyoto Prefecture in Japan, respectively, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 90 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 9 000 poultry eggs from Italy; about 60 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Germany; about 1 870 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Poland; and about 1 540 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 219.73 million poultry eggs from Japan in the first nine months of this year.

     “The CFS has contacted the Italian, German, Polish and Japanese authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation,” the spokesman said.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region