Update on supplies from Mainland
********************************
A spokesperson for the TLB said that the "Sea Express" water transportation service from the Mainland to Hong Kong has been fully launched and its capacity is rising to increase the supplies of fresh food, other daily necessities and manufacturing materials. The current supply of fresh food from the Mainland is stable.
The spokesperson said today (July 17) that Shenzhen operated 51 cargo vessel trips and transported around 5 910 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cross-boundary supplies by water yesterday (July 16), equivalent to about 41 200 tonnes of goods, of which around 20 TEUs (about 200 tonnes) were fresh food and around 5 890 TEUs (about 41 000 tonnes) were non-fresh food, according to information from the Mainland authorities.
Since the launch of services from the three ports in Shenzhen since February 18 to yesterday, a total of around 679 190 TEUs of cross-boundary supplies have been transported, equivalent to about 3 322 860 tonnes of goods, of which around 2 120 TEUs (about 18 110 tonnes) were fresh food and around 677 070 TEUs (about 3 304 750 tonnes) were non-fresh food.
Meanwhile, to avoid a spillover of the epidemic, the Transport Department (TD) arranges for dedicated staff to conduct rapid nucleic acid tests, using nasopharyngeal swabs for specimen collection, for cross-boundary goods vehicle drivers at various land boundary control points. Only drivers with a negative result are allowed to enter the Mainland. A total of 2 802 rapid nucleic acid tests were conducted yesterday, among which two cases that tested indeterminate were found. The TD has passed the cases to the Department of Health for follow-up.
The TLB will closely monitor the situation and co-operate with the Mainland authorities to facilitate and implement various measures to ensure both smooth cross-boundary land transport and a stable goods supply to Hong Kong, while reducing the risk of epidemic transmission in both the Mainland and Hong Kong.
Ends/Sunday, July 17, 2022
Issued at HKT 18:00
Issued at HKT 18:00
NNNN