Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long said in a speech yesterday that the COVID-19 prevention and control work has entered a new normal with a new mode adopted, and the emergency response mechanism in control and prevention must be continuously improved and optimised to meet future challenges, adding that although the phase of emergency prevention and control has passed, the novel coronavirus has not yet disappeared, and there will still be periodic pandemic peaks in the future.
Dr Lo made the remarks during the opening ceremony of the two-day 20th Tripartite Meeting on Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau at the Sheraton Grand hotel in Cotai.
Yesterday’s closed meeting, which was co-chaired by Dr Lo, Health Commission of Guangdong Province Deputy Director-General Huang Fei and Hong Kong’s Director of Health Ronald Lam Man Kin, was attended by representatives from the three regions’ health authorities, conducting exchanges and discussions on various topics including a summary of their respective experiences in COVID-19 prevention and control, as well as clinical treatment, among others.
Dr Lo said: “This two-day meeting not only promotes cooperation and exchanges between the three places in areas such as pandemic prevention and control, scientific research and innovation, information and resource sharing, but also heralds better development of the medical and health undertakings of the three places in line with the overall development of our country.”
Dr Lo also said he believed that the meeting would generate “positive effects” on the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in the three regions.
Dr Huang said in a speech during the ceremony that through close cooperation under the Framework for the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of Infectious Diseases, the standard of communicable disease prevention and control and the capabilities of health emergency response have been “significantly enhanced” in the three places.
Dr Huang also said he hoped that cooperation between the three areas will be further strengthened through the meeting, so as to respond to any infectious disease outbreaks that may arise in the future together.
During the ceremony, Dr Lam said in his speech: “This meeting is not only a testimony to the resumption of normal traveller clearance between the three places, but also a good platform for experience sharing, exchange and discussion for experts from the three places.”
Dr Lam added that his team expected to exchange more views on global public health challenges such as COVID-19 and monkeypox through the meeting.
The meeting ends with a press conference this afternoon.
Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long (left), Health Commission of Guangdong Province Deputy Director-General Huang Fei (centre) and Dr Ronald Lam Man Kin, director of Health of Hong Kong, deliver their respective speeches during yesterday’s opening ceremony of the two-day 20th Tripartite Meeting on Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau at the Sheraton Grand Macao hotel in Cotai. – Photo combination: Yuki Lei
