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Apr exports value down 13%

The value of Hong Kong's total exports decreased to $338.3 billion in April, down 13% on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.   The value of imports of goods decreased 11.9% to $374.9 billion for the same period.   A trade deficit of $36.6 billion, or 9.8% of the value of imports, was recorded in April.   Comparing the three-month period ending April with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of exports rose 15.4%, while that of imports increased 10.7%.   The Government noted that the value of merchandise exports declined further from a year earlier in April. Exports to the Mainland, the US and the European Union all shrank and exports to other major Asian markets recorded decreases of varying degrees.   Looking ahead, it added that the weakness in the advanced economies will continue to weigh on Hong Kong's export performance, though the expected faster recovery of the Mainland economy should

New mask rules at quarantine hotels

The Government today issued directions under the law to stipulate that a person under compulsory quarantine at a designated quarantine hotel (DQH) and his or her accompanying carer must not wear a mask with any exhalation valve or vent.   During an earlier investigation of two confirmed COVID-19 cases, the Centre for Health Protection noted that a person concerned who was under compulsory quarantine at a DQH might have transmitted the virus to others because he was wearing a mask with an exhalation valve or vent while his hotel room door was opened.        To avoid a similar situation from recurring, the Government has updated the directions under the Prevention & Control of Disease (Requirements & Directions) (Business & Premises) Regulation.   The centre strongly advised the public against wearing masks with any exhalation valve or vent as these masks cannot effectively filter droplets in exhaled air. The risk posed to surrounding people will be increased if the wearer is infected with novel coronavirus or other respiratory viruses.   It also recommended that the relevant people should wear surgical masks properly during check-in or when the hotel room door is opened during the quarantine period to effectively prevent the COVID-19 transmission.       Hotel staff and air crew should remind guests and passengers respectively not to use masks with any exhalation valve or vent, the centre added.
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