Extension of special visiting arrangement to 12 acute and specialist hospitals
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The Hospital Authority (HA) spokesperson announced today (August 12) that the special visiting arrangement will be extended to 12 acute and specialist hospitals from August 18 (see details in the Appendix).
"Visitors to acute and specialist hospitals are required to have completed a two-dose COVID-19 vaccination for more than 14 days, a requirement different from the special visiting arrangements to hospitals/wards with non-acute settings. Amid the huge volume of service and people movement in acute hospitals, the arrangement aims at minimising the infection risks of patients and staff in the hospitals," the spokesperson said.
"With due consideration to the usually shorter length of stay of acute hospital patients, the special visiting arrangement is only applicable to patients admitted for more than one week. Ward staff will schedule the visits and begin calling the patients' family members in the next few days. Family members are not required to contact the wards themselves. One to two visits will be arranged for a family member in a designated timeslot each week in keeping with the operation of individual wards.
"Visitors can scan the 'Hospital Visit QR code' which could be found in the HA webpage and the mobile app 'HA Go' to fill in the health declaration form within 24 hours before the visit and show the QR code generated by the system to the ward staff," the spokesperson reminded.
The HA hopes the community can understand that visiting arrangements can only be made with certain restrictions under the current epidemic situation. While preparation for a special visiting arrangement in more acute hospitals is underway, all hospitals will continue to facilitate compassionate and video visiting as far as practicable.
The prevailing special visiting arrangement for hospitals and wards with non-acute settings, including the test requirements for visitors, will remain the same. For details, please visit the website: www.ha.org.hk/haho/ho/pad/210719E.pdf.
The spokesperson reiterated that all visitors entering public hospitals are required to comply with the infection control measures, such as wearing surgical masks, temperature checking and filling in health declaration forms. In addition, visitors are encouraged to scan the "LeaveHomeSafe" venue QR code displayed at all public hospitals for a complete personal record of their visits. ýÿ
Ends/Thursday, August 12, 2021
Issued at HKT 16:30
Issued at HKT 16:30
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