The Immigration Department will launch new electronic services tomorrow for eligible applicants to complete the entire process of birth or death registrations online, without having to visit a registry in person. According to the Births & Deaths Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2023, which will take effect tomorrow, the statutory time limit for the registration of deaths from natural causes is extended from 24 hours to 14 days. It also removes the requirement for applicants who need to register births or deaths to attend the registries in person, so as to provide a legal basis for the introduction of electronic services for these kinds of registration. Under the new electronic services, if either parent of a newborn baby is a Hong Kong permanent resident, the parents may submit an application for a birth registration online within 42 days after the birth of their legitimate child. They may apply for a birth certificate at the same time and choose to receive it by
The Government today published a notice in the Gazette to include melioidosis as a statutorily notifiable infectious disease under Schedule 1 of the Prevention & Control of Disease Ordinance.
As such, medical practitioners are required to notify the Department of Health if they have reason to suspect that a melioidosis case exists, the Government explained.
While person-to-person transmission and animal-to-human transmission are rare, melioidosis bacteria can survive in the local environment, the department’s Centre for Health Protection noted.
Moreover, melioidosis is endemic in Hong Kong, and the presence of the bacteria in the environment may cause potential outbreaks. In regards to this, and the recent increase in the number of cases, especially in Sham Shui Po, the Government proposed to list melioidosis a statutorily notifiable infectious disease to enhance surveillance and prevention.
The move would facilitate early intervention in case of a suspected outbreak in the community, and provide more accurate information about melioidosis’ clinical characteristics and distribution in the city, the department stressed.
The notice will be tabled at the Legislative Council on November 16.
http://dlvr.it/ScfGLR
http://dlvr.it/ScfGLR