2009-05-29
A spokesman for the Department of Health said today (may 29) that all passengers arriving in Hong Kong would be required to complete a new health declaration form starting June 1.
The new health declaration forms would facilitate public health officers to carry out contact tracing more effectively in case of detection of human swine influenza (Influenza A H1N1) among travelers entering Hong Kong, the spokesman said.
The spokesman said the difference between the existing health declaration form and the new one to be introduced in June was that the latter would require travellers to fill in more information including the seat nos. of the flight, ship or vehicle concerned, their destinations for the next seven days after arriving Hong Kong and the transport to be used and ways of contacts in these seven days.
The new health declaration forms are being delivered to airlines for distribution onboard. More forms will be made available at the Hong Kong International Airport and all boundary control points. The completed forms will be collected before travellers go through the immigration control points.
"Under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, any person who fails to give information or knowingly gives information that is false to a health officer commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine at level 2 and to imprisonment for six months," the spokesman said.
Ends/Friday, May 29, 2009