CS visits quarantine facilities in Penny's Bay for FDHs arriving in HK (with photos/video)
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Accompanied by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong; the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; the Commissioner for Labour, Mr Chris Sun; and the Commissioner of the Civil Aid Service (CAS), Mr Lo Yan-lai, Mr Lee viewed the preparations at the quarantine centre and received briefings on the latest work progress by various departments.
The quarantine centre is operated by the Government. The departments concerned are now speeding up their preparations regarding the deployment of venues and manpower, the development of a computer booking system and payment arrangements, and the formulation of operation details including arrangements on security, cleaning, transportation, testing, meals and procurement of supplies. The preparation work is making good progress.
An interdepartmental meeting chaired by Mr Lee to co-ordinate the relevant preparatory work was held last week. The meeting was attended by representatives from the Food and Health Bureau, the Labour and Welfare Bureau, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, the Department of Health (DH), the Labour Department and the CAS. At present, the Government aims to open on September 20 a total of 800 units in Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the centre, with a computer booking system to be launched about one week in advance. The specific arrangements will be announced later this week.
Together with the 409 rooms provided by a participating quarantine hotel, a total of about 1 200 units are available territory-wide for compulsory quarantine for FDHs arriving in Hong Kong from various countries. FDHs holding vaccination records issued by the relevant authorities of India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines or Thailand in the prescribed formats have to stay in a designated quarantine facility.
During the visit, Mr Lee chatted with colleagues from various departments including the DH, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Fire Services Department, the Auxiliary Medical Service and the CAS to learn about their work in operating the quarantine centre and transportation logistics for meals, supplies and more. He also thanked them for standing steadfast at their posts in the front line of anti-epidemic work to provide appropriate support for people in need.
Mr Lee noted that while there is a large number of FDHs waiting to travel to Hong Kong, the Government must uphold the strategy of preventing the importation of cases in allowing FDHs to come to Hong Kong in a gradual and orderly manner with controlled risk, so that they can assist their employers in looking after family members.
Ends/Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Issued at HKT 18:00
Issued at HKT 18:00
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