Mainland experts attend meeting on Hong Kong's epidemic prevention, control work

HONG KONG, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of mainland epidemiological experts met here on Friday with the health officials and experts of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) over ways to better assist the global financial hub in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mainland experts attended a meeting of the epidemiologists task force and received an in-depth introduction to the epidemiological investigations and analyses in Hong Kong.

During the meeting, the mainland experts exchanged views with their Hong Kong colleagues on the epidemic situation in Hong Kong, discussed the challenges posed by the fifth wave of the epidemic and briefed them on the mainland's experience in tackling the epidemic.

The mainland experts also visited Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection to get a better grasp of the epidemiological investigations and workflow in Hong Kong, as well as the information system in relation to the epidemiological investigations.

Secretary for Food and Health of the HKSAR government Sophia Chan said that the HKSAR government was grateful for the delegation's visit, stressing that in the coming few days, the HKSAR government will continue to explore strategies and measures to put the epidemic situation under control based on initial recommendations suggested by the mainland experts.

The HKSAR government will continue its aim to achieve "dynamic zero infection", so as to ensure the effective operation of the public health system and safeguard the people's well-being, she said.

On Friday, Hong Kong registered 3,629 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, official data showed.

Since the start of a mass inoculation program in February last year, about 5.75 million people, or 85.4 percent of the eligible population in Hong Kong, have taken at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccines, while about 5.07 million, or 75.4 percent of the eligible population, have taken two doses. Over 1.4 million people have taken their third booster shots.

The mainland experts arrived here on Thursday for a five-day visit.