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Drivers given online option for permits

Members of the public can now apply for an International Driving Permit (IDP) through an online service launched today by the Transport Department.   Users of “iAM Smart+” or eligible applicants holding a valid personal digital certificate may apply online via the GovHK website and receive their IDP by post, without the need to visit a licensing office in person.   If the submitted documents and photograph are in order, the department will normally send successful applicants their IDP by registered post within 10 working days of the online application being made.   The department reminded those who plan to drive outside of Hong Kong to allow sufficient time for the IDP applications to be processed.   Citizens may continue to submit IDP applications by visiting licensing offices in person. Appointments can be booked online or by calling 3763 8080 to save queuing time.   Drivers may also send in their IDP applications by post or via the drop-in boxes placed at licensi

Local COVID-19 case detected

(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)   The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating three additional COVID-19 cases, two imported and one local case with an unknown source of infection.   The centre's Communicable Disease Branch Head Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan told a press briefing this afternoon that all three cases involve the L452R mutant strain.   She said the local case is a 47-year-old woman who works as a waitress in a VIP lounge at the airport, where she mainly served transit and outbound travellers.   After assessing the patient's exposure risk, there is a high possibility that she caught the virus at work, Dr Chuang added.   “For all the outbound travellers, I understand many of them would have (been) tested before they (departed) Hong Kong for other places.   “And even if they did not have tests, the risk of acquiring a local infection from the Hong Kong community is quite low.   “So for the transit travellers, because they come from other places and the epidemic situation all over the world is mostly very severe, it is very difficult to determine the actual source of infection. We are doing the genetic sequencing to check.”   The imported cases arrived from the UK and Oman.   Meanwhile, the genetic sequencing for a foreign domestic helper infected with COVID-19 on the 13th day of her arrival in Hong Kong was found to be identical to the genomes of two previous imported cases, suggesting that the three cases might be epidemiologically linked.   The three cases stayed on the same floor of the Dorsett Wanchai, Hong Kong hotel for compulsory quarantine after arrival in Hong Kong on August 1. The helper was in the room opposite to the one where the infected couple stayed.   The centre is of the view that the helper may have caught the virus through airborne transmission when the couple opened their hotel room door to submit samples.   It has arranged for 13 people who stayed on the same floor as the case from August 1 to 4 to undergo compulsory quarantine.   For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.
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