ENG-2020 — Page 17

Calendar of Events 2020

January

1

2

4

8

13

14

17

21-24

23

25

At least 400 people are arrested after a protest march turns violent.

The Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee, convenes an inter-departmental meeting to examine prevention and control measures in response to a cluster of pneumonia cases detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

The government launches the Preparedness and Response Plan for Novel Infectious. Disease of Public Health Significance and introduces a system of three response levels ('Alert, 'Serious' and 'Emergency') to deal with a novel infectious disease affecting Hong Kong. It immediately activates the Serious Response Level in response to the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan.

'Severe Respiratory Disease associated with a Novel Infectious Agent' is included as a statutorily notifiable infectious disease in Schedule 1 of the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance requiring medical practitioners to report to the Centre for Health Protection any suspected case.

At the ceremonial opening of the legal year, the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal, Mr Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, says judges look only to the letter of the law and to the spirit of the law, and nothing else, in the discharge of their responsibilities: 'Political, economic or social considerations, as opposed to legal considerations, simply do not enter into the equation.

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, announces $10 billion in 10 new initiatives to help those affected by the economic downturn, particularly the underprivileged.

The free trade agreement and investment agreement between Hong Kong and Australia come into force.

The Chief Executive attends the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. She meets the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong; the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Mr Xavier Bettel; and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr Mark Rutte.

The first two Hong Kong cases of the novel coronavirus infection are confirmed, both individuals who had travelled from Wuhan.

The Department of Health activates the first quarantine centre at Lady MacLehose Holiday Village.

The Chief Executive raises the response level from 'Serious' to 'Emergency' in relation to the novel coronavirus infection and announces a range of measures, including suspending all flights and high-speed train services to and from Wuhan.