The governing team of Hong Kong will donate one month's salary to the Community Chest for charity purposes to ride out the difficult times with the public, the Government announced today.

The Chief Executive and all politically appointed officials, including secretaries of departments and directors of bureaus, the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, under secretaries and political assistants will surrender one month’s remuneration to show solidarity with the public amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

The disease has caused a significant impact on the local economy in the past two months, the Government said, adding various sectors have been hard hit and the public has been challenged to get through these difficult times.

The governing team appealed to the public to be united to win the battle against the disease.

It added that it will spare no efforts in implementing relief measures under the Anti-epidemic Fund and the 2020-21 Budget so that Hong Kong can ride out the difficult times and regain momentum in going forward.

The non-official members of the Executive Council have also unanimously agreed to donate one month's honorarium to the charity.