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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government continues to closely monitor the Fukushima nuclear incident. Various departments will keep track of the radiation level of the air and fresh water in Hong Kong, food and imported products from Japan round the clock. As at noon today (March 26), the latest monitoring results for the past 24 hours from the relevant departments are as follows:
Radiation level in Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Observatory continues to monitor round-the-clock the real-time ambient gamma radiation levels in Hong Kong. In the past 24 hours, no abnormal changes in the ambient radiation levels in Hong Kong have been detected.
Water safety
The Water Supplies Department continues to monitor the radioactivity level of Dongjiang water supplied to Hong Kong, raw water from impounding reservoirs and fresh water. In the past 24 hours, the monitoring results show that the radioactivity level of all samples did not show any observable change. The radiological quality of fresh water remains normal and is safe.
Sea and air cargo
The Hong Kong Customs will continue selecting cargoes imported from Japan for inspection, including pharmaceutical products, cosmetics and personal hygiene products. In the past 24 hours, the Customs has checked 3,376 air consignments and 45 sea containers, including one consignment of pharmaceutical products and eight consignments of cosmetics. No irregularities have been detected so far.
Food Safety
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department continues to collect samples from local fish culture zones and fish wholesale markets under the Fish Marketing Organization for radiological testing on a daily basis. In the past 24 hours, the results of all collected samples were satisfactory.
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department had examined 53 food samples (including 51 samples by air and two samples by sea) in the past 24 hours. The type of samples being examined including aquatic products, vegetables, fruits, milk, milk powder, meat and others were satisfactory.
Assistance to Hong Kong residents
The Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit of the Immigration Department (ImmD) has not received any new request for assistance in relation to the earthquake and related incidents in Japan during the past 24 hours. Comparing with yesterday, the ImmD has finished three cases about losing contact with family. One case relates to a Hong Kong resident living in Japan who has safely returned to Hong Kong; the other two cases concern two students studying in Japan and their safety is confirmed. The ImmD will continue to follow up the remaining six cases.
For more relevant statistics and information, please visit "Japan Earthquake – Information for Residents" at GovHK website, www.gov.hk.
Ends/Saturday, March 26, 2011
Issued at HKT 20:06
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