The Judiciary today announced all court proceedings will resume as safely as circumstances permit from May 4.

Court and tribunal registries will reopen in stages from May 6, including the registries of the Court of Final Appeal and the High Court.

Having regard to the public health situation and the need for social distancing, court business will initially be conducted under a reduced capacity.

The Judiciary will continue to put in place appropriate preventive and crowd management measures.

The measures include requiring all people entering judiciary premises to undergo temperature checks and wear face masks.

They also include putting in place queuing, ticketing and triage systems, designated entry and exit points as well as admission control to limit the number of court users entering and remaining on judiciary premises.

To maintain social distancing, chessboard seating arrangements will continue to be adopted in courtrooms and court lobbies will reduce seating capacity by half.

Additionally, capacity limits will be set for areas such as court registries and accounts offices to avoid crowding.

Police today announced its decision to prohibit two public meetings and object to a public procession intended to be held on Hong Kong Island on May 1.

Upon risk assessment, Police said it regarded that the public meetings and procession are high-risk activities with crowd gatherings.

Police have grounds to believe that such activities do not only increase the risk of infecting participants and other people with COVID-19, but pose a serious threat to the lives and health of all citizens, jeopardising public safety and affecting the rights of others.

Police emphasised that it believed it is necessary to prohibit the public meetings and object to the public procession in accordance with the Public Order Ordinance for maintaining public order and public safety as well as protecting the rights and freedom of others.

Police reminded the public that taking part in an unauthorised assembly is a criminal offence and those found guilty could be liable to five years’ imprisonment.

The Development Bureau today announced that the Land Sharing Pilot Scheme will open for applications tomorrow to help unleash the development potential of qualified private land.

The private land must be with consolidated ownership that is outside specified environmentally sensitive areas and not covered by the Government's development studies.

In connection with the pilot scheme’s launch, the Chief Executive has appointed 10 members from a wide spectrum of sectors to a Panel of Advisors to offer independent opinions on the applications received and advise on the scheme's operation.

Chaired by Dr David Wong, the panel members will serve a term of 3.5 years starting May 1.

Secretary for Development Michael Wong said while government-led planning and land resumption remains the mainstream and continues to dominate its land creation agenda, the pilot scheme seeks to complement such efforts by tapping into market resources and efficiencies to boost both public and private housing in the short to medium term.

Under the scheme, the Government will facilitate infrastructural improvements that will enhance the development intensity of the private lots under application.

In return, the applicants are required to hand over part of the lots they own in the form of formed land that is capable of delivering at least 70% of the increased domestic gross floor area for public housing or Starter Homes developments intended by the Government.

Each project under the scheme should be capable of delivering an increased domestic gross floor area of no less than 50,000 sq m in total and at least 1,000 additional housing units.

The application period lasts for three years until May 5, 2023, subject to a cap of 150 hectares on the total area of private land to be approved.

The development chief added that the Government’s target is to convert the agricultural lots into spade-ready sites ready for housing construction within four to 6.5 years from the time applications are received.

To align with the phased resumption of public services, various government departments have announced their latest arrangements.

The Department of Justice’s public services will resume normal from May 4. The reception counters of the department’s Prosecutions Division and Civil Division will be open Monday to Friday from 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 6pm.

The Legal Aid Department’s offices will resume normal office hours on May 4 to provide public services including civil and criminal legal aid application and litigation services.

The Government Logistics Department’s collection office will resume normal operation from May 4 and open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm.

The Lands Department's offices will resume public counter services and enquiry telephone lines on May 4, providing services such as payment of government rent and premiums, map sales, and collection of compensation for land resumption.

Except for the surveying services to be conducted outside Hong Kong, all services of the Marine Department will resume starting May 4.

The Rating & Valuation Department will resume normal operation of public services from May 4, with its enquiry counters opening from 8.15am to 6pm from Monday to Friday, except on public holidays.

The Civil Engineering & Development Department said office hours for the Civil Engineering Library, applications for dumping licences and sand removal permits, and the Mines Division’s Permit & Licensing Office will return to normal on May 4.

Public services of the Water Supplies Department, the Planning Department, the Drainage Services Department and the Inland Revenue Department will resume normal on May 4.

Starting from May 4, the Registration & Electoral Office’s enquiry counter and offices, the Buildings Department and the Environmental Protection Department’s public counter services and service counters under the Labour Department will reopen.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption's headquarters and regional offices will also resume normal services from May 4.

The Housing Authority's estate management offices, Public Rental Housing Application Office in the Lok Fu Customer Service Centre, the Clearance Housing Office and the Redevelopment Sub-section Offices will reinstate normal services from that date.

Flat selection sessions of the Territory-wide Overcrowding Relief Exercise, the Living Space Improvement Transfer Scheme and Sale of Home Ownership Scheme Flats 2019 will gradually resume from May 8.

Click here for the latest public service arrangements.

To align with the phased resumption of public services, the Information Services Department, Government Records Service and Civil Aviation Department have announced their latest arrangements.

The Information Services Department will resume sales counter services at its Publications Sales Unit and Photo Library at North Point Government Offices from May 4.

The sales office will be open from 9am to 12.30pm and from 2pm to 6pm from Monday to Friday.

To reduce social contact and avoid people gathering, citizens are encouraged to purchase government publications and photos through the online bookstore and photo store.

The Government Records Service's Public Records Office will provide search room services, including onsite loan and circulation services, from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.45pm, for people who have made reservations through the online catalogue.

The office will also resume search room services from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays for people to inspect holdings which have been reserved online. 

Requests by up to 15 users will be accepted for search room services for each open day on a first-come, first-served basis. Users will be notified of the reservation results by email.

Visitor and public education programmes will continue to be suspended, while the Exhibition Hall at the Public Records Building will be temporarily closed for preparation of the new thematic exhibition until further notice.

Enquiries can be made to 2195 7700 or via email.

The Civil Aviation Department’s Personnel Licensing Office will continue to provide counter services from next Monday and resume relevant licensing examinations.

The office's opening hours are 8.45am to 12.45pm and 1.45pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Enquiries can be made to 2910 6046 or via email.

Click here for the latest public service arrangements.

General Stations: 1 to 2 (Health Risk: Low)

Roadside Stations: 2 (Health Risk: Low)

(American Association for Cancer Research) Combining intratumoral electroporation of interleukin-12 (IL-12) DNA (tavokinogene telseplasmid, or TAVO) with the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) led to clinical responses in patients with immunologically quiescent advanced melanoma, according to results from a phase II trial.

(Wiley) Heart failure and cancer are conditions with a number of shared characteristics. A new study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine found that in patients with heart failure, several known tumor markers can also be indicators of heart failure severity and progression.

(Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) The anti-cancer medicine venetoclax could improve the current therapy for estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer - the most common form of breast cancer in Australia - according to preclinical studies led by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers. The promising preclinical results for this 'triple therapy' have underpinned a phase 1 clinical trial in Melbourne, Australia, that is combining venetoclax with hormone therapy and CDK4/6 inhibitors in patients with ER+ breast cancer.

(Keck School of Medicine of USC) A new USC study suggests that temporarily suppressing the body's immune system during the early stages of COVID-19 could help a patient avoid severe symptoms. That's because the research shows that an interaction between the body's two main lines of defense may be causing the immune system to go into overdrive in some patients.

(Ohio State University) The land masses of Japan shifted from east to west to east again in the months before the strongest earthquake in the country's recorded history, a 2011 magnitude-9 earthquake that killed more than 15,500 people, new research shows.

(American Association for the Advancement of Science) Microplastic particles entering the sea surface were thought to settle to the seafloor directly below them, but now, a new study reveals that slow-moving currents near the bottom of the ocean direct the flow of plastics, creating microplastic hotpots in sediments of the deep sea.

Arlene Smaldone
Jan 1, 2008; 21:46-49
Evidence-Based Clinical Decision Making

It is possible that the next time you walk into a bar you may find that there is only standing room, and you are among a handful of persons allowed inside. Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that in addition to having a specific gathering rule,...