Publications and Press Releases

22 July 2020

Yesterday evening (July 22), the Immigration Department (ImmD) learned that a female Senior Immigration Assistant who stationed at Control Support Section was notified to have tested positive for COVID-19.

The officer concerned is mainly responsible for providing supporting services at the 14/F of the Wan Chai Immigration Tower. 14/F is not public floor and is not open to the public. She last performed duties on July 8. Since a male Senior Immigration Assistant working in the same section was confirmed positive for COVID-19 on July 13, ImmD had arranged her and the related immigration staff members to undergo COVID-19 testing and she was subsequently notified of the positive result yesterday evening. Her workplace has been arranged for thorough cleansing and was fully sterilised on July 13 and 14 in accordance with the guidelines of the Centre for Protection (CHP), including all public facilities.

Relevant immigration staff members who had undergone COVID-19 testings, except for the confirmed case of the female staff yesterday, majority of their test results were confirmed to be negative by the CHP and the results of only a small fraction of the samples are yet to be released. The ImmD will closely liaise with the CHP for the test results.

Although the staff tested positive for COVID-19 was working on the same floor as the other two confirmed cases of ImmD staff earlier, they were responsible for different duties and did not have direct contact with each other.

The officer concerned has no recent travel history. Her body temperature was normal before commencing duty and she followed relevant disease prevention measures at work. Currently, the CHP is trying to find out the cause of her infection and whether she has been in close contact with other people. ImmD will proactively co-operate with the center's quarantine work.

During the situation of COVID-19 infection, the Department has been strictly implementing various disease prevention measures, including measuring the body temperature of persons before entering the building, providing employees with masks and other protective equipment, requiring employees to wear masks when performing duties, and stepping up the cleaning and sterilizing measures of the working environment.

The Department will continue to maintain close liaison with the CHP and has also reminded its staff to pay attention to personal hygiene and stay vigilant. If feeling unwell, staff are reminded to seek medical advice and inform the department as soon as possible.