Dear Staff and Students,
We would like to share the following message on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) from Department of Health about Government extends social distancing measures under Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance and Government strengthens restrictions to persons arriving at Hong Kong from United Kingdom.
Health, Safety and Environment Office
Updated information on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Government extends social distancing measures under Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance and Government strengthens restrictions to persons arriving at Hong Kong from United Kingdom
The COVID-19 epidemic situation in Hong Kong is at the most serious and critical stage. The Government will maintain the current social distancing measures.
The details of the requirements and restrictions maintained during the 14-day period from December 24, 2020 to January 6, 2021 are as follows:
(1) The requirements and restrictions applicable to catering business and scheduled premises (details at Annex 1) will be maintained: from 6pm to 4.59am of the subsequent day, save for specific premises (details at Annex 2), a person responsible for carrying on a catering business must cease selling or supplying food or drink for consumption on the premises of the business; no more than two persons may be seated together at one table within any catering premises; bars or pubs will continue to be closed; and except club-houses and hotels or guesthouses, all scheduled premises regulated under Cap. 599F must be closed.
(2) Unless exempted, the prohibition on group gatherings of more than two persons in public places will continue. The requirement is also applicable to group gatherings in catering business and scheduled premises regulated under Cap. 599F in which the relevant requirements or restrictions are not complied with.
(3) The mandatory mask-wearing requirement under Cap. 599I will be extended.
Moreover, in view of the development of COVID-19 epidemic situation in the United Kingdom (UK), the Government has tightened a number of infection control measures applicable to persons arriving at Hong Kong from the UK. Details of the measures are as below:
(1) The requirements under Cap. 599H will be tightened so that all persons who have stayed in the UK for more than two hours in the past 14 days (including Hong Kong residents) will not be allowed to board for Hong Kong.
(2) An updated compulsory testing notice will be made under Cap. 599J, which requires persons who have stayed in the UK, arrive at Hong Kong on or after December 2, 2020, and are placed under compulsory quarantine in Hong Kong (including the quarantine orders issued under the Compulsory Quarantine of Persons Arriving at Hong Kong from Foreign Places Regulation (Cap. 599E) or Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C)), to stay at their place of residence, private premises or the place of quarantine specified on the quarantine order (place of stay) apart from undergoing testing at the Community Testing Centres on the 19th or 20th day following their arrival at Hong Kong. If the persons who arrive at Hong Kong from the UK and are subject to testing need to take public transport for the purpose of undergoing testing or for going to their place of stay, the persons can only travel direct by taking taxis and cannot disembark on the way. Any person who fails to comply with the above requirements commits an offence and may be fined a fixed penalty of $5,000. The person would also be issued with a compulsory testing order requiring him/her to undergo testing within a specified timeframe. Failure to comply with the order is an offence and the offender would be liable to a fine at level 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months.
The Government is also working on the legislative amendment in parallel, which will allow the compulsory quarantine period to last for more than 14 days when necessary, including lengthening the compulsory quarantine period for persons who arrive at Hong Kong from the UK to 21 days.
For more details, please refer to the press release and the Annex:
Government extends social distancing measures under Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202012/21/P2020122100978.htm
Annex
https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/202012/21/P2020122100978_356950_1_1608565358631.pdf
Government strengthens restrictions to persons arriving at Hong Kong from United Kingdom
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202012/22/P2020122200030.htm
Please visit our Facebook and Thematic Website (https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/index.html) regularly for further information and updates.
We would like to solicit your support to disseminate the information to your colleagues, work associates and/or business partners so that they could adopt proper preventive measures. Thank you very much for your support.
Department of Health
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敬啟者：
2019冠狀病毒病的最新資訊
政府延續《預防及控制疾病條例》下的社交距離措施及政府加強對從英國到港人士的限制
本港2019冠狀病毒病疫情正處於最嚴峻、最關鍵的時刻。政府會維持現行社交距離措施。
於2020年12月24日至2021年1月6日的十四日期間延續的規定及限制如下：
（1）繼續維持就餐飲業務及表列處所的規定及限制（詳見附件一），包括於每天下午六時起至翌日上午四時五十九分，除特定處所（見附件二）外，餐飲業務負責人須停止售賣或供應供在有關業務的處所內進食或飲用的食物或飲品；餐飲處所內不得有多於二人同坐一桌；繼續關閉酒吧或酒館；以及除會址及酒店或賓館外，所有第599F章下的表列處所必須繼續停止營業。
（2）除獲豁免者外，繼續禁止在公眾地方進行超過二人的羣組聚集。有關規定同樣適用於未有遵從第599F章下相關規定或限制的餐飲業務及表列處所內的羣組聚集。
（3）延續第599I章下強制佩戴口罩的要求。
另外，鑑於英國2019冠狀病毒病的疫情發展，政府收緊多項適用於從英國到港人士的防疫限制措施。詳情如下：
（1）收緊第599H章下的規定，所有於過去14天曾逗留英國超過兩小時的人士（包括香港居民），將不會獲准登機前來香港。
（2）作出第599J章下最新強制檢測公告，規定在二○二○年十二月二日或之後到達香港的受檢人士，如曾在英國停留並須在港接受強制檢疫（包括根據《外國地區到港人士強制檢疫規例》（第599E章）或《若干到港人士強制檢疫規例》（第599C章）發出的檢疫令），除須在到港後第19天或第20天到社區檢測中心接受檢測外，亦須在確定檢測結果前留在該人的居住地點、私人處所或在檢疫令上指明的檢疫地點（下稱「逗留地點」）。如從英國抵港受檢人士因前往檢測或返回逗留地點而須乘搭公共交通工具，只可乘搭的士，而且中途不能下車。任何相關人士如未有遵從上述規定，即屬犯罪，可處定額罰款5,000元，並會收到強制檢測令，要求該人士於指明期間內接受檢測。不遵從強制檢測令即屬犯罪，並可處第四級罰款（25,000元）及監禁六個月。
政府同時亦正著手修改法例，容許在有需要時把強制檢疫期訂為多於14天，包括將從英國來港人士的強制檢疫期延長至21天。
詳情請參閱有關新聞公報及附件：
政府延續《預防及控制疾病條例》下的社交距離措施
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202012/21/P2020122100955.htm
附件
https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/202012/21/P2020122100955_356948_1_1608561613835.pdf
政府加強對從英國到港人士的限制
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202012/21/P2020122100985.htm
請定期留意我們的Facebook及專題網站（https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/chi/index.html），以獲取更多及更新的資訊。
希望你可以將有關資訊與你的同事、合作者及／或業務伙伴分享，讓他們都能採取合適的預防措施。非常感謝你的支持。
衞生署
