CHP investigates suspected food poisoning cluster
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (September 26) investigating a suspected food poisoning cluster affecting 51 persons. The CHP reminded the public to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene to prevent foodborne diseases.
The cluster involved 48 students of a school in Tai Po, comprising 34 males and 14 females, aged 5 to 15, and three staff members of the school, aged 31 to 55. They developed diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, about 4 to 31 hours after having lunch at the school canteen on September 24. Six of the affected persons sought medical advice and none required hospitalisation. All affected persons are in stable condition.
Initial investigations of the CHP revealed that the affected persons consumed common food, with a higher chance of involving food poisoning. The affected persons' symptoms is likely related to consumption of the beef lasagna prepared by the canteen. The personnel from the CHP and the Centre for Food Safety of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department visited the place for an environmental investigation, and provided preventive advice against food poisoning to the school. Investigations are ongoing.
To prevent foodborne diseases, members of the public are reminded to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene at all times. When dining out:
Patronise only reliable and licensed restaurants;
Avoid eating raw seafood;
Be a discerning consumer in choosing cold dishes, including sashimi, sushi and raw oysters, at a buffet;
Pre-cooked or leftover foods should be stored and reheated properly before consumption;
Ensure food is thoroughly cooked before eating during a hotpot or barbecue meal;
Handle raw and cooked foods carefully and separate them completely during the cooking process;
Use two sets of chopsticks and utensils to handle raw and cooked foods;
Do not patronise illegal food hawkers;
Drink boiled water;
Do not try to use salt, vinegar, wine or wasabi to kill bacteria as they are not effective; and
Always wash hands before eating and after going to the toilet.
CS chairs inter-departmental working group meeting on festival arrangements
As directed by the Chief Executive, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, chaired the inter-departmental working group meeting on festival arrangements today (September 26) to holistically review and steer the overall co-ordination work of various government departments in welcoming visitors to Hong Kong during the National Day Golden Week. The Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing; the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung; the Under Secretary for Security, Mr Michael Cheuk; and representatives of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, the Transport and Logistics Bureau, and other relevant Government departments attended the meeting.
At the meeting, Mr Chan instructed various departments to better prepare for receiving visitors during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week, actively coordinate and consolidate supporting services of boundary control points (BCPs), traffic and public transport, promptly respond to various emergency situations, and strengthen information dissemination, with a view to providing quality experience to residents and visitors in celebration of the National Day.
Estimated visitor flow and preparatory work
According to the Immigration Department (ImmD)'s estimate, around 7.01 million passengers (including Hong Kong residents and visitors) will pass through Hong Kong's sea, land and air control points during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week (October 1 to October 7) this year, among which 5.98 million passengers will pass through land control points. The number of outbound and inbound passengers using land boundary control points will peak on October 1 (Tuesday).
In terms of Mainland inbound visitors, it is estimated that about 1.23 million passengers will visit Hong Kong via various sea, land and air control points during the seven-day Mainland's National Day Golden Week.
The Travel Industry Authority has reminded travel agents receiving Mainland inbound tour groups to stagger arrival time as far as possible, and will coordinate with agencies such as tourist spots to adopt appropriate diversion measures to enable proper management of the flow of visitors and tour buses, with a view to offering a pleasant travel experience to visitors.
There will be a rich array of celebratory activities before, during and after the Mainland's National Day Golden Week. Major mega events include the "Celebration of National Day - The Next Generation Chorus Performance" at the West Kowloon Cultural District on September 30 night (Monday) and the 2024 National Day Fireworks Display at the Victoria Harbour on October 1 night (Tuesday). The Hong Kong Police Force (Police) will arrange sufficient police manpower to implement corresponding crowd management measures and special traffic arrangements as necessary to ensure that all celebrations will be conducted in a safe and orderly manner. Various district offices will also closely monitor the flow of visitors within their corresponding districts during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week and strengthen management of the relevant spots having regard to the actual circumstances.
Coordinate control points, traffic and public transport facilities
The Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre set up by Hong Kong Customs, the Police, the ImmD and other departments will be activated from September 28 (Saturday) to October 7 (Monday) to monitor the real-time situation at various control points, maintain close liaison with the Mainland port authorities through the established port hotlines and real-time notification mechanism, and take timely contingency actions to flexibly deploy manpower at the BCPs to ensure smooth operation of the land control points. The Security Bureau will also activate the Emergency Monitoring and Support Centre in a timely manner to closely monitor and co-ordinate the public order situation at various BCPs and facilitate interdepartmental follow-up actions where necessary to respond promptly to various kinds of emergencies.
For transport arrangements, the Transport Department (TD) has worked with relevant Mainland authorities and relevant operators to formulate plans to strengthen services at various ports, including increasing the frequency of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) shuttle bus (Gold Bus) and the Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang cross-boundary shuttle bus (Yellow Bus), as well as arranging dedicated public transport lanes at the HZMB Port, Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port and Shenzhen Bay Port as necessary, with a view to ensuring smooth public transport services. Regarding local public transport services, the TD has approached various public transport operators proactively to enhance the capacity, and reserve vehicles and manpower to meet the travel needs of visitors. Amongst them, the MTR Corporation Limited will enhance train service of railway lines during September 28 to October 13, with a total of about 950 extra trips, so as to facilitate the travelling of local residents and visitors. The TD's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre will operate 24 hours to closely monitor the traffic conditions and public transport services of different districts including various BCPs and major stations. The TD will adopt various measures including increasing the frequency of public transport services as appropriate so as to cope with the service demand and passenger flow, and will disseminate the latest traffic information through various channels.
As regards the two homeporting calls of a mega cruise ship at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week, while the cruise terminal operator will continue to coordinate with the cruise company, transport service operators and travel agents etc. to make proper transport planning, the Tourism Commission (TC) has also liaised with the bus companies and the taxi trade through the TD to provide additional support. Shuttle bus services will also be strengthened subject to demand. As it is anticipated that many Mainland visitors will come to Hong Kong to join cruise itineraries via the land BCPs, the TC has also assisted the trade in coordinating with BCPs to ensure smooth immigration clearance. Direct coach services will be provided to take visitors from the BCPs to the cruise terminal.
Weather forecast
The weather in Hong Kong is expected to be generally fine during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week, with low chances of being affected by heavy rain and tropical cyclones. A fresh to strong northeasterly monsoon is expected to arrive in Guangdong on the National Day, followed by a couple of days of slightly cooler and drier weather, with a minimum temperature of around 22 degrees Celsius in the urban areas. The above forecast is a preliminary assessment, and the Observatory will update the forecast depending on the latest weather changes.
Information dissemination
To facilitate visitors in planning their itineraries, the inter-departmental working group will strengthen information dissemination including the latest inbound visitor arrivals, the situation at various BCPs, information on celebratory events, transport arrangements and the latest weather information, etc, to facilitate residents and visitors to plan their itineraries according to the latest situation.
The Tourism Board (TB) has also launched a dedicated webpage to consolidate various useful information during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week, including the operating arrangements of major tourist attractions in Hong Kong, details of various unique celebratory events, special discount and promotional activities around the National Day, so as to facilitate residents and visitors to plan their itineraries more conveniently. The TB has also stepped up promotion in the Mainland, including launching special offers with major online integrated tourism platforms in the Mainland, in order to promote large-scale events with characteristics, explore the unique cultural and tourism experiences in Hong Kong through the promotional channel of the platforms and boost spending of more Mainland visitors in Hong Kong as well as enhance visitors' experience.
CS chairs inter-departmental working group meeting on festival arrangements Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
