Dear Staff and Students,
We would like to share the following message on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) from Department of Health about Government tightens social distancing measures and Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation gazetted.
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Health, Safety and Environment Office
Updated information on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Government tightens social distancing measures and Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation gazetted
In view of the development of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, the Government announced on November 14 that social distancing measures will be tightened. The latest details of requirements and restrictions are as follows:
(I) Catering premises and scheduled premises (details at Annex 1)
(1) From 12.00am to 4.59am daily, 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; and close any premises, or part of the premises, on which food or drink is sold or supplied by the business for consumption on the premises. The premises concerned may still sell or supply food and/or drink for takeaway services and deliveries. A person responsible for carrying on a catering business is also required to put up a notice at the entrance to the catering premises to remind customers that food or drink should not be consumed in areas adjacent to the catering premises;
(2) No more than two persons may be seated together at one table within bars or pubs as well as clubs or nightclubs; no more than four persons may be seated together at one table within other catering business premises;
(3) Members of public must only consume food or drink at the table (but not any other places) within catering business premises. In other words, a person must not consume food or drink and must wear a mask when he or she is away from the table (such as toasting at weddings);
(4) The total number of people allowed in catering business premises (including bars or pubs), clubs or nightclubs, and swimming pools will be capped at 50 per cent of the normal seating capacity/maximum capacity of the respective premises;
(5) Members of the public must wear masks when doing exercise in indoor sports premises and public skating rinks, except when there is a distance of at least 1.5 metres or effective partition(s), or when doing certain exercises involving little physical contact;
(6) Other requirements and restrictions on catering business and scheduled premises will be maintained. Amongst others, facilities involving higher health risks such as steam and sauna facilities and ball pits will continue to be prohibited from opening; and
(7) The Government will explore to incorporate hotels /guesthouses into the list of scheduled premises, and requirements will be imposed to this newly added scheduled premises, including:
· limiting the number of guests in each guestroom to four persons (except people living in the same household);
· requiring all guests visiting guestrooms to register their personal particulars with the hotel/guesthouse operator;
· conducting body temperature screening on a person before the person is allowed to enter the hotel/guesthouse;
· conducting cleaning and disinfection of facilities and accessories before the use of the next customer;
· providing hand sanitisers at the hotel/guesthouse for any person therein;
· ensuring the guestrooms for hotel confinees and non-confinees must be separated in different floors; and
· hotel operators must take effective measures to prevent hotel confinees from leaving their guestrooms.
The Government has gazetted the directions and specification under Cap. 599F to implement the above measures in (1) to (6). The above measures will take effect from November 16 for a period of 11 days till November 26, 2020. The Government has also started preparing for the legislative amendment work related to the above new requirements set out in (7).
(II) Tightening the visiting arrangement for persons under quarantine in hotels
(8) The Department of Health (DH) will shortly disallow visitors for any person under compulsory quarantine in hotels during the quarantine period. If confinees have the need to replenish goods or food, their friends, family members or hotel staff can place them outside the guestrooms for the confinees to pick up without face-to-face contact. If a person under compulsory hotel quarantine requires the company of a carer, with the prior permission from DH, the carer also has to be quarantined in the hotel till the end of the quarantine period. The above measures will take effect from November 18, 2020.
(III) Group gatherings
(9) Unless exempted, the prohibition on group gatherings of more than four persons in public places will continue during the 11-day period from November 16 to 26, 2020.
(IV) Mask-wearing requirement
(10) The mandatory mask-wearing requirement under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Wearing of Mask) Regulation (Cap. 599I) will be extended for a period of eleven days from November 16 to November 26, 2020.
Moreover, to further strengthen testing, the Government has published the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) in the Gazette on November 14, which commences at 0.00am on November 15. The Regulation provides the legal framework for the Government to require certain categories of persons to undergo COVID-19 testing, and for specified medical practitioners to require symptomatic patients to undergo COVID-19 testing. Examples include persons who live or work in specified premises with outbreak of cases, persons of a particular occupation, or persons who are close to completion of the compulsory 14-day quarantine upon their arrival at Hong Kong. The Secretary for Food and Health (SFH) will publish the relevant notices when necessary taking into account the epidemic development and the testing participation rate.
For more details, please refer to the press release and the Annex:
Government tightens social distancing measures
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202011/14/P2020111400766.htm
Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation gazette
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202011/14/P2020111400767.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
政府收緊社交距離措施 及 政府就《預防及控制疾病（對若干人士強制檢測）規例》刊憲
因應本港2019冠狀病毒病的疫情發展，政府於十一月十四日公布收緊社交距離措施。最新規定及限制詳情如下：
（1）餐飲業務及表列處所（詳情見附件一）
（一）每天凌晨零時起至上午四時五十九分，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；及如該業務在某處所（或某處所的部分範圍）售賣或供應食物或飲品，供在該處所內進食或飲用，餐飲業務負責人須關閉該處所或該範圍（視乎屬何種情況而定）。受影響處所將可繼續以外賣及外送方式售賣或供應食物及／或飲品。餐飲業務負責人亦須於餐飲處所入口處張貼告示，提醒顧客不應於餐飲處所毗連的地方進食或飲用食物或飲品；
（二）酒吧或酒館及夜店或夜總會內不得有多於二人同坐一桌，其他餐飲業務處所內不得有多於四人同坐一桌；
（三）市民在餐飲業務處所內只可於餐桌而非處所內的其他地方飲食，亦即離開餐桌時（例如在婚宴等場合進行敬酒活動）不得飲食並必須佩戴口罩；
（四）餐飲業務處所（包括酒吧或酒館）、夜店或夜總會及泳池的顧客／使用者人數上限為通常座位數目／可容納人數上限的50%；
（五）市民在室內體育處所及公眾溜冰場運動時必須佩戴口罩，除非與另一人保持至少1.5米距離、有效間隔或進行某些涉及較少身體接觸的運動；
（六）繼續維持其他就餐飲業務及表列處所的規定及限制，包括繼續暫停開放衞生風險較高的設施，包括蒸汽浴、桑拿設施及波波池等；及
（七）研究將旅館納入為表列處所，並就作為新增的表列處所的旅館施加規定，包括：
· 限制每間旅館房間人數至四人（除非有關人士來自同一家庭）；
· 要求所有旅館房間訪客必須向旅館營運者登記個人資料；
· 在容許某人進入旅館前，須先為該人量度體溫；
· 在下一位顧客使用前，須先對設施及配件進行清潔及消毒；
· 須在任何旅館，為在其內的人提供消毒搓手液；
· 確保於酒店接受檢疫人士與非受檢疫人士的房間須分隔於不同樓層；及
· 酒店營運者須採取有效措施，避免受檢疫人士於檢疫期間離開客房。
政府已就第599F章下的指示及指明刊憲，以實施上述第（一）至第（六）點措施。上述措施將於二○二○年十一月十六日至十一月二十六日的十一日期間內生效。政府亦已着手準備與上述第（七）點相關的法例修訂工作。
（2）收緊於酒店接受檢疫人士的探訪安排
（八）衞生署將於短時間內要求所有於酒店接受強制檢疫人士，在檢疫期內不得接受探訪。如受檢疫人士有需要補充物資或食物，可由親友或酒店職員協助放於房門外，讓受檢疫人士在沒有面對面接觸的情況下拿取。於酒店接受強制檢疫人士如需照顧者照顧，需首先獲得衞生署批准，照顧者並需要同時在酒店內進行檢疫，直到檢疫期完結。
（3）羣組聚集
（九）除獲豁免者外，於二○二○年十一月十六日至十一月二十六日的十一日期間內，繼續禁止在公眾地方進行超過四人的羣組聚集。
任何人參加受禁羣組聚集、組織受禁羣組聚集，或擁有、控制或營運進行該聚集的地方及明知而容許進行該聚集，根據第《預防及控制疾病（禁止羣組聚集）規例》（第599G章）均屬犯罪，最高可被罰款25,000元及監禁六個月。參加受禁羣組聚集的人，可藉繳付定額罰款2,000元，解除因該罪行而須負的法律責任。
（4）佩戴口罩要求
（十）在二○二○年十一月十六日至二十六日的十一日期間內，延續《預防及控制疾病（佩戴口罩）規例》（第599I章）下強制佩戴口罩的要求。
此外，為進一步加強檢測力度，政府於十一月十四日刊登憲報，訂立《預防及控制疾病（對若干人士強制檢測）規例》（第599J章）。《規例》於十一月十五日凌晨零時生效。《規例》提供法律框架，讓政府可要求某類人士接受2019冠狀病毒病的檢測，以及指明的醫生可要求有2019冠狀病毒病症狀的病人接受檢測。例子包括於有疫情爆發的指明處所生活或工作的人士、某特定職業的人士，或已接近完成14天強制檢疫的抵港人士。食物及衞生局局長會視乎疫情發展及檢測參與率，在有需要時作出相關的公告。
詳情請參閱有關新聞公報及附件：
政府收緊社交距離措施
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202011/14/P2020111400757.htm
政府就《預防及控制疾病（對若干人士強制檢測）規例》刊憲
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202011/14/P2020111400758.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
