Government announces updates on follow-up work on Tai Po fire
The three task forces set up by the Government for the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po - the Task Force on Investigation and Regulation, the Task Force on Emergency Support and Fund-Raising, and the Task Force on Emergency Accommodation Arrangements - are making full efforts to follow up on the support, relief, and investigation work related to the incident. Details are as follows:
Financial and welfare support
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For the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, established by the Government, donations received are about $3.7 billion as of noon today (December 21). With the start-up capital of $300 million from the Government, the fund's total has now reached around $4 billion. The fund will be used to assist residents in rebuilding their homes and providing long-term and sustained support.
Accommodation support
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Currently, there is still a supply of more than 1 000 units that can provide affected residents with longer-term accommodation. The transitional housing and the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) projects in different districts can altogether provide around 500 units at the moment. Moreover, Po Tin Interim Housing in Tuen Mun and Runway 1331 at Kai Tak can provide a supply of around 900 units.
As of this morning, a total of 572 residents are staying in hotel rooms through the co-ordination of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, and 563 residents are staying in youth hostels/camps. Another 3 513 residents are currently living in transitional housing units provided by the Housing Bureau, units from the HKHS or Po Tin Interim Housing in Tuen Mun.
The Transport Department (TD) has been steering public transport operators (PTOs) to enhance services of franchised buses, green minibuses and residents' services (RS) by deploying additional vehicles and manpower to support residents affected by the fire who have been admitted into transitional housing in various districts, facilitating transfers to other services to and from different districts. Among them, an additional RS will be introduced connecting CONCORDIA Tsat Sing Kong and CONCORDIA Sheung Yue River in Yuen Long and Tai Po Market Station. The TD will closely co-ordinate with operating organisations of transitional housing projects concerned and PTOs to cater for residents' commuting needs.
Relief supplies and donations
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The supplies donation online platform, established by the Government and the information technology sector, continues to operate, facilitating the registration of supplies donations from organisations and the public. The Government has so far received around 2 000 registrations, of which approximately 30 per cent were submitted by organisations, whereas the others were contributed by the public. The various registered donation items include food and beverages, clothing, daily necessities, bedding, and electrical appliances. The Government is actively assessing residents' actual needs through the relevant policy bureau, government departments, and service organisations for the matching of donated supplies in order to distribute appropriate items in phases to places in need. So far, over 29 000 donation items covering various categories have been distributed to different places. The matching and distribution of supplies will continue.
Investigation and regulation
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Relevant policy bureaux and departments continue to follow up on the fire investigation and regulatory efforts.
Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, Photo by Bastille Post
Director of Health visits State Administration for Market Regulation and National Institutes for Drug Control in Beijing
The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, led a delegation from the Department of Health (DH) to attend the thematic session on health and medical services at the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing at the invitation of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission. The delegation also called on various regulatory authorities to deepen exchanges and co-operation in health.
The DH delegation earlier paid a visit to the National Institutes for Drug Control (NIDC) and met with Deputy Director Ms Xu Miao. They also toured the NIDC's biological products laboratory, and exchanged views with the NIDC on topics covering the strengthening of testing of biological products, research of Chinese medicine (CM) standards and testing capabilities,as well as supporting the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute in enriching its collections, with a view to jointly promoting drug safety as well as the inheritance and innovation of CM.
"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the NIDC for its longstanding professional guidance to, and close collaboration and exchanges with, the DH on drug and CM testing, etc. In accordance with the 2026 annual bilateral work plan between the DH and the National Medical Products Administration early this year, the NIDC organised a four-week training programme for professional officers from the DH and the Government Laboratory on biological product testing so that they can enhance technical capabilities by learning from each other to advance local testing work," said Dr Lam.
"Regarding CM, both the DH and the NIDC have been maintaining close collaborations, having signed a co-operation agreement on research for CM testing and standards in May 2024 to further advance collaborations in CM standards and testing technology innovations, and exchanges in talent and academic matters, to jointly promote the quality and safety of CM. The Outline of the National 15th Five-Year Plan has promulgated the advancement of the inheritance and innovation of CM to promote its global expansion. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will proactively integrate into and contribute to the overall national development, participate in building a 'Healthy China', to showcase the HKSAR's high-quality development in CM testing technologies, thereby supporting CM in going global."
Dr Lam today (September 11) met with Deputy Director-General of the Advertising Regulation Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) Ms Luo Lan and exchanged views on enhancing surveillance on cross-boundary medical and health-related online advertisements. Dr Lam said that with the growing demand for cross-boundary healthcare services, the volume of medical and health-related advertisements and information disseminated across borders has also been increasing. He expressed his gratitude to the SAMR for its support to the HKSAR in joining hands to builda "Healthy China". The meeting yielded substantial results. Both sides agreed to strengthen co-operation by establishing a point-to-point notification mechanism, enhancing information exchanges and professional training, and jointly cracking down on fraudulent and undesirable medical advertisements to reduce the risk of residents in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong being misled or defrauded, thereby firmly safeguarding the health and well-being of people in both places.
Dr Lam will conclude his visit to Beijing and return to Hong Kong today.
Director of Health visits State Administration for Market Regulation and National Institutes for Drug Control in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Director of Health visits State Administration for Market Regulation and National Institutes for Drug Control in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Director of Health visits State Administration for Market Regulation and National Institutes for Drug Control in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
