Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor held a press conference today (2nd) to announce the latest vaccination and new anti-epidemic measures. The Secretary for Food and Health, Chen Zhaoshi, the Secretary for Civil Service, Nie Dequan, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Luo Zhiguang, and the Secretary for Education, Yang Runxiong, and others Attend.
The slogan of the press conference was "Building a Double Barrier Against the Epidemic." Carrie Lam pointed out that there have been no local infections in Hong Kong for 56 consecutive days, and the local goal of "zeroing zero" has been achieved.
Lam Cheng announced that all civil servants, staff of the Hospital Authority, staff of elderly and disabled institutions, and staff of primary, secondary, child and special schools must be vaccinated, otherwise they must be tested at their own expense every two weeks.
Nie Dequan said that the new measures for civil servants' vaccination will be implemented on September 1. The government is actively considering extending the service period of community vaccination centers to the end of October.
Regarding the recent suspension of the work relationship between the Education Bureau and the Education Association, Lam Cheng said that he fully supports the Bureau’s approach and criticizes the Education Association for robbing the education sector and political overriding the education major.
[18:30] The government mentioned that if civil servants refuse to be vaccinated, they may face "disciplinary action". What is the actual "disciplinary action"?
Nie Dequan responded that the government has not forced civil servants to be vaccinated, and it has been announced early that employees who have not been vaccinated will need to be tested at their own expense.
He pointed out that for the safety of the public and colleagues, it is an obligation for civil servants to vaccinate, and the government has provided sufficient convenience measures for civil servants, such as "needle leave" and free health seminars.
He pointed out that if civil servants still refuse to be vaccinated for non-health reasons, the government can decide the relevant disciplinary actions based on the actual situation and the corresponding degree.
Luo Zhiguang pointed out that there is already national legislation to compel vaccination of certain groups, and the government will not rule out any mandatory vaccination measures in the future.
[18:15] When asked about the purpose of extending the operation of the vaccination center to October, Chen Zhaoshi said that he noticed that many citizens rushed to get the first shot before August, so the vaccination rate in Hong Kong is expected to reach 70% within October. Therefore, it is hoped that the operation of multiple vaccination centers will be delayed for one month, and adjustments will be made according to the situation.
As for the details of public vaccination in private clinics after the vaccination center is closed, Chen Zhaoshi said that he has communicated with some private clinics, but not all clinics have conditions for citizens to be vaccinated. The specific situation will be implemented later.
Lam Cheng: Support the Education Bureau to suspend cooperation with the Education Association
[18:00] Carrie Lam took the initiative to respond to questions about the cancellation of the working relationship between the Education Bureau and the Education Association at the press conference. She emphasized that the current government attaches great importance to education. During the election campaign, she also visited the Education Association. Yi Education New Resources hoped to walk with the teachers at the time, but described that during the turmoil of the revision of the regulations, a "profound lesson" was taught. Many students did not have a sense of law abiding. There were also teachers who participated in the organization and were even arrested, giving the authorities the determination to correct the root cause.
She pointed out that the full name of the Education Association is the "Education Professionals Association", so the Association of Education was regarded as a group that should be consulted during the election. , Criticizing the Education Association’s political stance over professionalism is precisely because the Education Association is the largest teacher group in Hong Kong and robbed the education sector. This is unfair to other teachers.
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor emphasized that he fully supports the decision of the Education Bureau this time, "not because of an editorial or an article," and stressed that under the National Security Act, no organization can touch the bottom line.
She mentioned that when she was invited to attend the celebration of the Educational Association in 2018, she was described by the media as an "ice-breaking journey". She said that she had been in office for less than a year and the social atmosphere was relatively stable. "At that time, because society attaches great importance to the development of teachers and education, it is hoped that the government and the Education Association will have transactional exchanges in the future to jointly move towards the goal of quality education development, but it is described that the Education Association has now deviated from this goal.
Refusing to comment will ban the Education Association
She again pointed out that she mentioned in other education forums last year that she had allocated resources to the education sector after taking office, but denied that the measures were "to please the Education Association" and emphasized that there is no such thing at all, but she personally thinks that if Being good for teachers is definitely good for high-quality education. Last year, it was also stated that it hoped to cooperate with the education sector to bring education back to education. At that time, it was mentioned that "good times are not constant" refers to the period of anti-regulation incidents.
Lam Cheng also stated that the authorities have actively contacted the education sector in all education-related matters in the past two years, such as epidemic prevention, and pointed out that in addition to the Education Association, there are also teacher unions, school-running groups, and parents’ associations in the education sector. The government will directly contact the education sector. A large number of educational groups solicited opinions.
Regarding whether the Education Association was banned, she said that if the banning of the Education Association requires a legal basis, she will not comment on this today, emphasizing that there must be a solid foundation for the ban. , She hopes to cultivate the next generation with national identity together with teachers.
Chen Zhaoshi said that there is no urgency to vaccinate the third shot
[17:40] When asked whether the government will provide the citizens with a third "boosted shot" vaccine, Chen Zhaoshi said that the expert team will review more data from local or overseas sources, and will do so based on WHO recommendations. Decide.
She said that the expert group initially believes that there is no urgency for the third dose of vaccination at present, but when the experts obtain more data, they will review whether the third dose of high-risk individuals needs to be vaccinated. The relevant details are currently being studied, including the subjects of vaccination, and The time limit between the second needle and so on.
Lam Cheng denies that people are forcing injections into other "democratic" countries
[17:32] Some reporters mentioned that the government mentioned at the end of July that it would provide self-funded second-stage antibody testing services. It has not yet been implemented. Is it related to changing the classification risk area category? Will the service be extended to China in the future? In risk areas, I also asked whether the government now requires multiple types of industries or employees to be tested, whether it violates the original promise that it will not force citizens to take injections.
Lam Cheng denied forcing citizens to get an injection, saying that now they only require specific groups to pay for testing. This is already a "moderate" method and will be adjusted in response to the situation of the epidemic.
[
17:20] Asked whether the Education Bureau requires the school staff to arrange injections and whether they have adequately consulted with various teacher unions, including the Education Association that has ceased cooperation.
Yang Runxiong only stated that he has had sufficient consultation with the industry in the past year and his practice has not changed.
If the school reaches 70% vaccination rate, full-time face-to-face classes can be resumed
[17:10] The Secretary of Education, Yang Runxiong, stated that regarding the school schedule for the 2021-22 school year, the authorities have been calling for vaccinations for faculty and students. As of July 13, it was learned from the school that 47% of faculty and staff had been vaccinated, which was higher than that at the time. The vaccination rate in Hong Kong is 40% for students aged 12 or above.
He announced that the authorities have decided that all kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, special schools and tuitions will continue to open on a half-day basis.
Yang Runxiong pointed out that starting from September 1st, faculty and staff members who frequently visit the school must have received the first dose of vaccine before September 1, or have been tested and received negative results within two weeks, and will participate in regular tests at their own expense. .
He said that if a student has received the second dose of the vaccine and 14 days have passed, a half-day course can be arranged.
He pointed out that the school and the authorities agree that if the school has an ideal vaccination rate, more time can be arranged in the school. For example, if the school has a vaccination rate of 70%, they will be allowed to return to school for normal lunch.
Luo Zhiguang said that foreign domestic helpers can come to Hong Kong to complete quarantine in one or two hotels in several situations
Luo Zhiguang said that after the adjustment of foreign import prevention measures, foreign domestic helpers can come to work in Hong Kong under several circumstances, including those who have completed vaccination in Hong Kong and return to their hometown, and those who have completed the vaccination but need to return to their hometown for a holiday after completing the contract. , You can also start work after you come to Hong Kong to complete quarantine, emphasizing that Hong Kong will continue to contact foreign domestic helpers, including the Philippine and Indonesian consulates, and confirm through the local government the authenticity of foreign domestic helpers’ vaccination records. The commissioner completes the quarantine in one or two hotels, which means that the arrangements will be announced after discussions.
He also pointed out that currently about 60% of the employees in residential care homes for the elderly have been vaccinated. The government will tighten the regular testing requirements for residential care homes for the elderly until the first inspection on the 7th. Starting from the 1st of next month, they have not been vaccinated due to non-health reasons. The employees are required to conduct periodic inspections at their own expense. It also points out that the government will stop granting inspection allowances.
(Photo by Li Zetong)
Class B restaurant employees must be tested every 7 days
[17:08] Chen Zhaoshi said that Hong Kong currently unconditionally relaxes social distancing measures and will extend the social distancing measures that expire on August 4 for two weeks until August 18, and at the same time, they will be tightened in August. The testing requirements for category B restaurant employees will require employees to be tested once every 14 days instead of once every 7 days.
Chen Zhaoshi also announced that as of the 25th of last month, the COVID-19 vaccine clinical event assessment expert committee had received 4,500 reports of abnormal vaccination events, accounting for 9 out of 10,000 of the total. A total of 27 cases died within 14 days of vaccination, accounting for 100% of the total dose. 5 out of 10,000, the expert committee has finished reviewing all cases, none of which is related to vaccination.
Chen pointed out that as of the 23rd of last month, the Vaccine Protection Fund had approved 6 applications for a total of 750,000 yuan. The cases involved severe allergies, hospitalization and facial paralysis, but did not involve long-term permanent physical damage.
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Nie Dequan: Actively considering extending the service of the vaccination center to the end of October
[17:00] Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said that all civil servants and government employees, staff of the Hospital Authority, employees of residential care homes for the elderly and the disabled, as well as all employees of primary and secondary schools, kindergartens and kindergartens, will be required to vaccinate, otherwise they will need to pay regularly at their own expense Perform virus detection.
The Secretary for Civil Service, Nie Dequan, pointed out that the vaccination program has been in operation for more than 5 months. As of August 1, 3.26 million citizens had received at least one dose, accounting for 48% of the eligible population, but they had received the first vaccination program at the age of 60 or above. People who have been vaccinated, accounting for only 31%, urge the elderly to get vaccinated as soon as possible. It is also said that experts point out that all people who have been vaccinated against influenza can safely receive the new crown vaccine.
He said that the measure of distributing same-day chips to elders over 70 has been implemented for 4 days, and a total of 6,400 chips have been distributed. He described the operation as smooth and will consider extending it to people aged 60 or over.
Nie Dequan said that the vaccination situation of civil servants has been improving. 7 adults have received the first dose of vaccine. The government has implemented frontline civil servants to replace regular testing with vaccination on May 31, and 115,000 frontline employees have participated in the injection. Regular inspection arrangements.
He said that all government employees are responsible for vaccinations. Therefore, from today, the relevant arrangements will cover all government employees, including full-time and part-time employees on non-civil service contracts. Those who have not been vaccinated must be tested every two weeks.
He continued that the long-term government funding for government employees who choose not to be vaccinated is unreasonable for virus testing. Therefore, starting from September 1st, all people who have not been vaccinated except for employees whose health conditions are not suitable for injections have been certified by a doctor. It is necessary to conduct regular tests at their own expense outside of working hours. Those who cannot be vaccinated due to health problems will be able to be tested without affecting the operation of government departments, and the test funds will be refunded.
He also pointed out that the government estimates that by the end of September, the vaccination rate in Hong Kong is expected to reach 70%, reaching the epidemic prevention barrier. The government is actively considering extending the service period of community vaccination centers to the end of October, so that citizens can still be vaccinated before the end of September. One stitch.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor met with reporters and talked about measures such as vaccination and restrictions on gatherings.
(Photo by Li Zetong)
People arriving in high-risk areas must be quarantined for 21 days
[16:40] At the press conference, Lam Cheng first congratulated the women's table tennis team for entering the women's team semi-finals and achieved exciting results. She praised all Hong Kong athletes for their outstanding performance in the Olympics, which moved her.
Lam Cheng later stated that the variant virus strain Delta had a serious epidemic. As of the end of July, 108 cases had been confirmed as Delta virus strains in Hong Kong.
She pointed out that the prevention and control of the epidemic must be "outside prevention", and there is a system to control overseas arrivals in Hong Kong. She decided to reclassify the previous "ABC" and other risk areas and reclassify them as high, medium, and low risk areas, referring to low risk. The area is very small.
She said that all visitors to Hong Kong had a negative result 72 hours before boarding. Only vaccinated Hong Kong residents can come to Hong Kong in high-risk areas; only Hong Kong residents and vaccinated non-Hong Kong residents can come to Hong Kong in medium-risk areas.
She mentioned that all people must be quarantined. Those arriving in high-risk areas must be quarantined for 21 days, and those arriving in Hong Kong at medium-risk must be quarantined for 14 days. Those who have been vaccinated and have antibodies can be tested in hotels for 7 days and at home for 7 days. In low-risk areas, only 7 days are required for testing, and all those who have not been vaccinated are quarantined for an additional 7 days by region.
Lam Cheng also pointed out that all those who serve arrivals in Hong Kong must have been vaccinated, including airport personnel, drivers who take the arrivals to the hotel, and hotel quarantine personnel.
As for the second part of the anti-epidemic barrier is "increasing the vaccination rate."
Lam Cheng pointed out that if those who do not receive the vaccine will have to pay for the test every two weeks, the number of people who will be tested will be extended to include civil servants with a vaccination rate of 70%, the elderly and disabled employees with a vaccination rate of 64%, and the current vaccination rate. Only employees of primary and secondary schools, kindergartens and special schools.
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