CE: Policy Address to propose 200 new measures as HK govt actively responds to virus

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Carrie Lam, tells the press before attending the Executive Council meeting today (Nov. 24) that she will deliver her Policy Address tomorrow, which will propose 200 new measures. She also mentions the worsening epidemic situations in HK and the government's response to it.

New Policy Address to propose an extra 200 measures

Lam says that the Policy Address was originally scheduled to be delivered in mid-October. Two days before publishing, however, she said that in response to this year's epidemic and social turmoil, she decided to spend more time to discuss with central authorities to inject some new measures into the 2020 Policy Address.

Lam also points out that, of the 700 measures proposed in the past three Policy Addresses, 95% have been completed or are being implemented in an orderly manner.

Return2hk Scheme not affected

Lam also indicates that more than 2,000 people returned to Hong Kong through the "Return2hk" Travel Scheme on its first day of implementation, stressing that the new wave of COVID-19 infections will not affect the current scheme.

The epidemic situations in mainland China and Macao are well-controlled, says Lam. She adds that a total of 320,000 compulsory quarantine orders were issued to inbound travelers from mainland China and Macao, among which not a single confirmed case was found.

Specimen collection kit to be distributed in post offices, possibly MTR stations

Lam says that the government will set up distribution machines for specimen collection kits at 121 post offices and plans to further include MTR stations in the distribution scheme. Citizens still need to return the specimen to the 47 outpatient clinics under the Health Authority or the 13 clinics designated by the Department of Health.

Lam adds that additional five community testing centers will be set up by the end of this week at the earliest.

More indoor sites to be closed, followed by the dance club clusters eruption

In addition to the announced closure of some sites, such as party rooms and dancing clubs, the government has decided to further tighten the curbs. She stresses that more indoor sites, mainly leisure and entertainment premises, which involve non-masked activities, crowd gathering and body contact, will be closed. The Food and Health Bureau will issue an announcement on this today (Nov. 24), Lam says.

Lam points out that of the 188 new COVID-19 cases reported over the past week, 132 were connected with a single infection cluster, the city's biggest so far, related to dance studios. The government announced earlier that all people who have visited the 21 dance venues must undergo mandatory testing, Lam adds.