(To watch the full press conference with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Government today announced that aside from those providing emergency and essential public services, all other government employees should work from home starting December 2.

It said the move was made in view of the severity of the local COVID-19 epidemic situation and measures must be taken to significantly reduce the flow of people and social contacts to stop the virus from spreading in the community.

The measure will be implemented for two weeks until December 15.

Government departments will continue to provide emergency and essential public services. Individual departments will announce the latest arrangements of their services separately.

Where necessary, members of the public are encouraged to use alternative means, such as the post, drop-in boxes or online channels to receive the services they need.

When people are entering or are present in government buildings or offices, they should wear surgical masks at all times and comply with infection control measures implemented by relevant departments including temperature checks and crowd control arrangements.

The Government appealed to the public for their understanding of the inconvenience caused by the reduction in public services.

It also urged employers to allow their staff to work from home as far as possible according to their operational needs to reduce the flow of people and social contacts in the community.