Chief Secretary John Lee today visited the fifth community isolation facility constructed with Mainland support near Kai Pak Ling Road in Hung Shui Kiu, Yuen Long, which includes a holding centre for the elderly.

Upon arrival, Mr Lee attended a handover seminar with Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Deputy Director Yin Zonghua and the chairman of contractor China State Construction International Holdings.

The use of the Hung Shui Kiu facility will be divided into two parts, with one area dedicated for general-purpose isolation and the other as a holding centre for the elderly.

The area being utilised as a community isolation facility will provide about 550 rooms and 1,600 beds for emergency isolation.

The area designated as a holding centre for seniors occupies about one-third of the land, with a total of 25 large modular units, each constructed by connecting four to six small units. Seven or 12 beds will be set up in each large unit and the holding centre is expected to provide more than 200 beds in total.

After the seminar, Mr Lee first inspected the general isolation rooms and received a briefing from contractor staff on the project's features and the challenges they faced during the construction process.

He then viewed the large units to be utilised as a holding centre for the elderly and other related equipment. The holding centre for seniors will be operated by the Social Welfare Department (SWD).

Mr Lee said the Government's decision to partially convert and utilise the facility in Hung Shui Kiu as a holding centre for the elderly was made after taking into consideration the recent high demand for such facilities and to bring the functions and value of the Hung Shui Kiu facility into full play.

To cope with the needs of elderly patients, enhancement works at the holding centre, including construction of barrier-free access to assist elderly patients using wheelchairs, installation of screens in rooms to enhance privacy and improvement of facilities such as handrails and lighting in toilets, will be carried out.

The SWD will commission professional organisations to form a care team, with members mainly comprising nurses and care workers, to provide temporary care services to elderly patients in the centre. The Hospital Authority will also dispatch doctors and nurses to be stationed on-site and provide drugs.

The general-purpose isolation facilities at Hung Shui Kiu started service after today's handover, while the holding centre for elderly patients will begin operation in April.

Mr Lee thanked the central government for supporting the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to construct such community isolation facilities within a short space of time.

Together with the facilities in Tsing Yi, San Tin and Fanling and on the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities Island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, over 3,000 rooms and more than 10,000 beds are provided.