Government to resume normal public services
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"The epidemic situation has stabilised this month. Taking into account the needs for the functioning of society, government departments will resume normal public services," the spokesman said.
"As individual bureaux and departments may require more time to carry out necessary manpower deployment and procure supplies and need to comply with the anti-epidemic regulations, some of their services may be resumed at a later time. They will make announcements of their latest service arrangements separately," the spokesman said.
"In view of the need to reduce flows of people and social contact, bureaux and departments will continue to implement targeted measures while resuming public services, such as introducing flexible working hours to reduce the need for staff to use public transport during peak hours, using video conferencing instead of holding face-to-face meetings where possible, and keeping physical distance or installing physical partitioning among staff and between staff and clients. As there may be a higher demand for various public services at the beginning of service resumption, the waiting time for public services may be lengthened, or a longer time may be needed for the processing of applications. We appeal for the understanding of members of the public."
The spokesman appealed to the public to continue to use alternative means, such as the post, drop-in boxes or online channels, to receive the services they need. Meanwhile, if members of the public have to visit government buildings or offices, they should wear surgical masks at all times and comply with the infection control measures implemented by the relevant departments including temperature checks and crowd control arrangements.
Ends/Thursday, September 10, 2020
Issued at HKT 17:40
Issued at HKT 17:40
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