Port health measures boosted

January 7, 2020

Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan Even since the development of these cases in Wuhan, the Government and also the Centre for Health Protection have been working very hard to strengthen our port health measures, in particular those at the airport as well as the MTR Corporation, that is at the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station of the Express Rail Link. Not only are they doing additional measures, for example, at the airport they are putting in trolleys of infrared temperature-checking machines. And also last night, they again targeted those passengers coming from Wuhan to do the hand-held temperature checking for every passenger that came to Hong Kong. For every citizen, passenger who travelled to Wuhan, if they have any respiratory symptoms, if they feel unwell, they should actually see a doctor and also consult with a doctor. If they come from the train or board the airplane, when they go through these machines, if they have a temperature, it can be identified or detected by the port health staff. And if they do feel unwell, they can actually contact port health officers. At the port health offices, they have stations, they have healthcare professionals and they can also give advice and check the situation. So really, the outcome is the same in checking the temperature, both at the airport and at the train station, as well as other borders.

(To watch the video with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Government has been strengthening port health measures to tackle the Wuhan-related disease, Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan said today.

Prof Chan made the statement at a press conference this afternoon.

She said the Department of Health has been working very hard to strengthen measures, particularly at the airport and the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.

“Not only are they doing additional measures, for example, at the airport they are putting in trolleys of infrared temperature-checking machines.

“And also last night, they again targeted those passengers coming from Wuhan to do the hand-held temperature checking for every passenger that came to Hong Kong.”

Prof Chan appealed to people who travelled to Wuhan to see a doctor if they feel unwell or have any respiratory symptoms.

“If they come from the train or board the airplane, when they go through these machines, if they have a temperature, it can be identified or detected by the port health staff.

“If they do feel unwell, they can actually contact port health officers. At the port health offices, they have stations, they have healthcare professionals and they can also give advice and check the situation.”

Prof Chan noted the Prevention & Control of Disease (Amendment) Regulation 2020 and the Prevention & Control of Disease Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) Notice 2020 will be gazetted on January 8 to include the severe respiratory disease associated with a novel infectious agent as a statutorily notifiable infectious disease.

The severe respiratory disease associated with a novel infectious agent refers to a cluster of viral pneumonia cases of unknown cause occurring in Wuhan since December.

She added that this will strengthen Hong Kong's capability in monitoring the disease, and is important in the prevention and control of infectious diseases in the city.