Fwd: Questions about testing on coronavirus

[Simon H WANG]

Dear Sir/Madam

             I refer to my Code on Access to Information application made to the Department of Health dated on June 29 and a follow-up email on  4 July.  In the more recent email I asked about whether the HK government plans to perform tests on sewage water samples for coronavirus.  Here are my questions for your department to answer under the Code on Access to Information

1) Please list the wastewater-treatment plants in Hong Kong including the locations and the areas from which the waste water was collected and processed. 

2) Does the department collect sewage water samples? If so, how often and for what purposes? 

3) Is it possible for university researchers or the members of the public to request sewage water samples from your department for research purposes?  

4) In addition to collecting samples from the wastewater-treatment plants, is it possible to collect samples from other places near the residential areas in order to pinpoint the locations of community outbreak in case of positive test results on sewage water samples collected in the treatment plants?  

While 10 days- and 21-days time frames are in place for processing Code on Access to Information requests and your department pledges to answer enquiries within 10 calendar days (https://www.dsd.gov.hk/EN/About_Us/Performance_Pledges/index.html), I hope this request can be handled more promptly given its time-sensitive nature.  Thanks in advance for your assistance. 

Yours sincerely

Simon Wang 

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Simon H WANG <simo...@hkbu.edu.hk>
Date: Sat, Jul 4, 2020 at 12:54 PM
Subject: Re: Questions about testing on coronavirus
To: <enqu...@dh.gov.hk>

Dear Sir/Madam

          I'd like to follow up on my email enquiries on 29 June. According to a BBC news report (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53257101) testing sewage water for coronavirus could help identify potential areas of community outbreak earlier than other forms of tests.  Here are my questions

1) Did the government perform any tests on water samples from sewage for coronavirus? If so please provide details of such tests.

2) Does the government or other institutions in HK have the capacities to perform coronavirus testing on sewage water samples?  

3) Will the government consider performing such tests in near future for detecting cases of community outbreak of coronavirus? 

Thanks in advance for your timely attention.  

Yours sincerely

Simon Wang 

 

On Mon, Jun 29, 2020 at 8:00 AM Simon H WANG <simo...@hkbu.edu.hk> wrote:

Dear Sir/Madam 

             I am writing to seek information about the HK government's plan to test people for coronavirus. Please answer the following questions under the Code on Access to Information:

1) How many tests have been performed in the past 4 months since the outbreak through the public health system and private hospitals respectively? Please provide daily numbers if available.  

2) Under what circumstances are testing services of coronavirus available for members of the public free of charge?  

3) How much does it cost for the department or the public hospital to administer a test?

4) What is the current capacity of testing for coronavirus in Hong Kong (maximum no. of tests that can be done in public and private hospitals/clinics/ testing centres)?  Did this figure change in the past weeks? Will the capacity increase in the near future?  (according to this report https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3084856/coronavirus-hong-kong-records-no-new-cases-covid the government plans to increase the capacity to 7000 a day)  

5) How does the government plan to spend the earmarked HK$220 million Anti-epidemic Fund to boost testing capacity?

6) According to the report here https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/26/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-testing-intl-hnk/index.html Wuhan managed to test 6.5 million coronavirus tests in 9 days by "pool testing" https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30362-5/fulltext?mod=article_inline#%20.  Will the government consider this strategy in the near future to boost testing capacity for Hong Kong?  

While 10-day and 21-day time frames have been set for requests under the Code on Access to Information, as a regular contributor to the SCMP letters section https://padlet.com/simonwanghkbu/scmpletters,  I believe my request should be fulfilled as soon as possible given that the information requested should be readily available and is crucial for engaging the public for a conversation on how to deal with the pandemic.  Thanks in advance for your assistance.  

Yours sincerely

Simon Wang 

Simon Wang, Ph.D.

Lecturer

Language Centre 

Hong Kong Baptist University 

Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 

http://lc.hkbu.edu.hk/staff_simon.php  

Writing for the Public Project 

https://sites.google.com/a/hkbu.edu.hk/write4public/home

--

Simon Wang, Ph.D.

Lecturer

Language Centre 

Hong Kong Baptist University 

Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 

http://lc.hkbu.edu.hk/staff_simon.php  

Writing for the Public Project 

https://sites.google.com/a/hkbu.edu.hk/write4public/home

---

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[Simon H WANG]

Dear Sir/Madam

            I’m writing to follow up on my Code on Access to Information application submitted on 29 June regarding Q 3) How much does it cost for the department or the public hospital to administer a test. Could Hospital Authority and Department of Health provide a breakdown of the cost for administering coronavirus tests and comment on the possibility of sending samples to Shenzhen or Macau for testing where the costs are significantly lower? Thanks in advance for your timely response.

[Simon H WANG]

Dear Sir/Madam 

            I'm writing to follow up on my emails dated 29 June, 4 July and 6 July. I'd like to know how long a patient has to wait to get his/her coronavirus testing results in Hong Kong.  I expect answers to some of my questions by tomorrow 9 July (10 calendar days after my first request made on 29 June) and copy this email to the Ombudsman to keep the office in the loop.   

Yours sincerely

Simon Wang 

[Simon H WANG]

Dear Sir/Madam

          I am writing to lodge a complaint against the supervisors of Ms Ophelia CHIANG the Access to Information Officer and Mr LAU Leong Wa who handled my Code on Access to Information applications made on 29 June, 4 July, 6 July and 8 July.  My questions are neither taken seriously nor answered in a professional manner. See attached email for a reply from Leisure and Cultural Affairs Department to my Code on Access to Information application. I hope more competent staff can handle my requests as soon as possible.  Please communicate with me via email; you have my consent to use my personal data for handling this matter.  

Yours sincerely

Simon Wang 

Questions raised on 8 July

        I'm writing to follow up on my emails dated 29 June, 4 July and 6 July. I'd like to know how long a patient has to wait to get his/her coronavirus testing results in Hong Kong. 

Questions raised on 6 July 

  I’m writing to follow up on my Code on Access to Information application submitted on 29 June regarding Q 3) How much does it cost for the department or the public hospital to administer a test. Could Hospital Authority and Department of Health provide a breakdown of the cost for administering coronavirus tests and comment on the possibility of sending samples to Shenzhen or Macau for testing where the costs are significantly lower?

Questions raised on 4 July 

According to a BBC news report (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53257101) testing sewage water for coronavirus could help identify potential areas of community outbreak earlier than other forms of tests.  Here are my questions
1) Did the government perform any tests on water samples from sewage for coronavirus? If so please provide details of such tests.
2) Does the government or other institutions in HK have the capacities to perform coronavirus testing on sewage water samples?  
3) Will the government consider performing such tests in near future for detecting cases of community outbreak of coronavirus? 

Questions raised on 29 June 

1) How many tests have been performed in the past 4 months since the outbreak through the public health system and private hospitals respectively? Please provide daily numbers if available.  

2) Under what circumstances are testing services of coronavirus available for members of the public free of charge?  

3) How much does it cost for the department or the public hospital to administer a test?

4) What is the current capacity of testing for coronavirus in Hong Kong (maximum no. of tests that can be done in public and private hospitals/clinics/ testing centres)?  Did this figure change in the past weeks? Will the capacity increase in the near future?  (according to this report https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3084856/coronavirus-hong-kong-records-no-new-cases-covid the government plans to increase the capacity to 7000 a day)  

5) How does the government plan to spend the earmarked HK$220 million Anti-epidemic Fund to boost testing capacity?

6) According to the report here https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/26/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-testing-intl-hnk/index.html Wuhan managed to test 6.5 million coronavirus tests in 9 days by "pool testing" https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30362-5/fulltext?mod=article_inline#%20.  Will the government consider this strategy in the near future to boost testing capacity for Hong Kong?  

On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 2:22 PM Simon H WANG <simo...@hkbu.edu.hk> wrote:

Dear Sir/Madam 

         Thanks for your reply. I expect full answers to ALL my questions one by one rather than just a link to a website. Please kindly refer this case to a senior official to review and provide a phone number for me to follow up my enquiry. I am also writing to request the Ombudsman, the Food and Health Bureau, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau to review this case.   

Yours sincerely

Simon Wang 

On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 2:10 PM <enqu...@dh.gov.hk> wrote:

Dear Mr Simon WANG,

Thanks for your emails dated 29 June, 4 July, 6 July and 8 July 2020.

Please refer to item (1) of the following website for the charges for COVID-19 test.
https://www.dh.gov.hk/english/useful/useful_fee/useful_fee_ls.html

Regarding your enquiry dated 8 Jul 2020, please be informed that for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing, laboratory results will normally be available on or before the next working day upon receipt of specimens by the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch of the Centre for Health Protection.

Yours sincerely,
(LAU Leong-wa)
for Director of Health

[Simon H WANG]

Dear Sir/Madam

        Please kindly acknowledge my complaint in writing and inform me of the procedures you will follow to process this complaint and the timeline. Thanks.

[Simon H WANG]

[Simon H WANG]

Dear Mr Lau

          Thanks for your email. I’ll answer your questions in a few days. In the meantime, I hope the Bureau can work with Department of Health to address my questions that were unanswered or not answered adequately, especially those questions that do not require extra information-gathering. For example, whether the government is testing wastewater and doing pool testing. Once my more time-sensitive questions are answered, we can then deal with the systematic issues the Department of Health may have in handling Code on Access to Information applications.

Yours sincerely 

Simon Wang

On Fri, 10 Jul 2020 at 14:21, <enq...@fhb.gov.hk> wrote:

Dear Dr Wang,

             I write to acknowledge your complaint emails of 9.7.2020@14:52 and 9.7.2020@18:55, providing us with (i) your previous emails of 29.6.2020@0800, 4.7.2020@12:54, 6.7.2020@0800 and 8.7.2020@08:29 addressed to the Department of Health (DH); (ii) DH's reply email of 9.7.2020@14:10 issued by Mr LAU Leong-wa; and (iii) your follow-up email of 9.7.2020@14:22 also addressed to DH.

2.          In handling your complaint, we shall gather information from relevant parties for examination and would aim at giving you a substantive reply within 30 calendar days after receipt of your complaint.  In case there is any complication which requires longer processing time, we shall keep you informed of the progress and update you on the estimated time frame required.

3.           To facilitate our handling of your case, I should be grateful for your clarification on the following -

(i) whether your complaint is directed against (a) Ms Ophelia CHIANG and Mr LAU Leong-wa or (b) the supervisors of these two officers?  

(a) if the subjects of complaint are Ms Opehlia CHIANG and Mr LAU Leong-wa
(ii)  According to the information provided by you, it is uncertain whether Ms Ophelia Chiang was involved in handling your applications under the Code on Access to Information. While we shall separately look into this point in our examination of the case, it would be helpful if you can clarify whether your complaint against Ms Chiang is based on her capacity as the Access to Information Officer of the Department of Health or if you have any other encounter(s) with Ms Chiang that made you aggrieved?

(b) if the subjects of complaint are the two officers' supervisors
(iii) Please kindly advise if there has been any communication between you and the Department of Health ("DH") other than the emails you forwarded to us on 9.7.2020  that give rise to or would be relevant to your complaint against the two officers' supervisors? Your advice would facilitate our verification of information collected from DH in the process of examination.
(iv) Please advise if you consider any specific supervisor(s) should be held accountable for your dissatisfaction with DH's handling of your applications under the Code on Access to Information, or your complaint is generally referring to the DH management in the context of application handling under the Code on Access to Information.

Regards,
(Jack Lau)
for Secretary for Food and Health
Tel: 3509 8976

From:        Simon H WANG <simo...@hkbu.edu.hk>
To:        "enq...@fhb.gov.hk" <enq...@fhb.gov.hk>,
Date:        09/07/20 06:55 PM
Subject:        Fwd: Questions about testing on coronavirus

---

Dear Sir/Madam
        Please kindly acknowledge my complaint in writing and inform me of the procedures you will follow to process this complaint and the timeline. Thanks.

Yours sincerely
Simon Wang



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Simon H WANG <simo...@hkbu.edu.hk

>

Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2020 at 14:51

Subject: Re: Questions about testing on coronavirus

To: <compl...@ombudsman.hk>, <cma...@cmab.gov.hk>, <enq...@fhb.gov.hk>
Cc: <cmt_...@dh.gov.hk>, <eo_...@dh.gov.hk>, <ge-capstone-...@googlegroups.com>


Dear Sir/Madam

          I am writing to lodge a complaint against the supervisors of Ms Ophelia CHIANG the Access to Information Officer and Mr LAU Leong Wa who handled my Code on Access to Information applications made on 29 June, 4 July, 6 July and 8 July.  My questions are neither taken seriously nor answered in a professional manner. See attached email for a reply from Leisure and Cultural Affairs Department to my Code on Access to Information application. I hope more competent staff can handle my requests as soon as possible.  Please communicate with me via email; you have my consent to use my personal data for handling this matter.  

Yours sincerely
Simon Wang 

Questions raised on 8 July
        I'm writing to follow up on my emails dated 29 June, 4 July and 6 July. I'd like to know how long a patient has to wait to get his/her coronavirus testing results in Hong Kong. 

Questions raised on 6 July 
  I’m writing to follow up on my Code on Access to Information application submitted on 29 June regarding Q 3) How much does it cost for the department or the public hospital to administer a test. Could Hospital Authority and Department of Health provide a breakdown of the cost for administering coronavirus tests and comment on the possibility of sending samples to Shenzhen or Macau for testing where the costs are significantly lower?

Questions raised on 4 July 

According to a BBC news report (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53257101) testing sewage water for coronavirus could help identify potential areas of community outbreak earlier than other forms of tests.  Here are my questions
1) Did the government perform any tests on water samples from sewage for coronavirus? If so please provide details of such tests.
2) Does the government or other institutions in HK have the capacities to perform coronavirus testing on sewage water samples?  
3) Will the government consider performing such tests in near future for detecting cases of community outbreak of coronavirus? 

Questions raised on 29 June 

1) How many tests have been performed in the past 4 months since the outbreak through the public health system and private hospitals respectively? Please provide daily numbers if available.  

2) Under what circumstances are testing services of coronavirus available for members of the public free of charge?  

3) How much does it cost for the department or the public hospital to administer a test?

4) What is the current capacity of testing for coronavirus in Hong Kong (maximum no. of tests that can be done in public and private hospitals/clinics/ testing centres)?  Did this figure change in the past weeks? Will the capacity increase in the near future?  (according to this report https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3084856/coronavirus-hong-kong-records-no-new-cases-covid the government plans to increase the capacity to 7000 a day)  

5) How does the government plan to spend the earmarked HK$220 million Anti-epidemic Fund to boost testing capacity?

6) According to the report here https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/26/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-testing-intl-hnk/index.html Wuhan managed to test 6.5 million coronavirus tests in 9 days by "pool testing" https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30362-5/fulltext?mod=article_inline#%20.  Will the government consider this strategy in the near future to boost testing capacity for Hong Kong?  





On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 2:22 PM Simon H WANG <simo...@hkbu.edu.hk> wrote:
Dear Sir/Madam 

         Thanks for your reply. I expect full answers to ALL my questions one by one rather than just a link to a website. Please kindly refer this case to a senior official to review and provide a phone number for me to follow up my enquiry. I am also writing to request the Ombudsman, the Food and Health Bureau, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau to review this case.   

Yours sincerely
Simon Wang 

On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 2:10 PM <enqu...@dh.gov.hk> wrote:
Dear Mr Simon WANG,

Thanks for your emails dated 29 June, 4 July, 6 July and 8 July 2020.

Please refer to item (1) of the following website for the charges for COVID-19 test.
https://www.dh.gov.hk/english/useful/useful_fee/useful_fee_ls.html

Regarding your enquiry dated 8 Jul 2020, please be informed that for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing, laboratory results will normally be available on or before the next working day upon receipt of specimens by the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch of the Centre for Health Protection.

Yours sincerely,
(LAU Leong-wa)
for Director of Health

From:        Simon H WANG <simo...@hkbu.edu.hk>
To:        "enqu...@dh.gov.hk" <enqu...@dh.gov.hk>, compl...@ombudsman.hk
Cc:        "ge-capstone-...@googlegroups.com" <ge-capstone-...@googlegroups.com>
Date:        08/07/2020 08:29

Subject:        Re: Questions about testing on coronavirus

---

Dear Sir/Madam 
            I'm writing to follow up on my emails dated 29 June, 4 July and 6 July. I'd like to know how long a patient has to wait to get his/her coronavirus testing results in Hong Kong.  I expect answers to some of my questions by tomorrow 9 July (10 calendar days after my first request made on 29 June) and copy this email to the Ombudsman to keep the office in the loop.   

Yours sincerely
Simon Wang 

On Mon, Jul 6, 2020 at 8:00 AM Simon H WANG <

simo...@hkbu.edu.hk> wrote:
Dear Sir/Madam

            I’m writing to follow up on my Code on Access to Information application submitted on 29 June regarding Q 3) How much does it cost for the department or the public hospital to administer a test. Could Hospital Authority and Department of Health provide a breakdown of the cost for administering coronavirus tests and comment on the possibility of sending samples to Shenzhen or Macau for testing where the costs are significantly lower? Thanks in advance for your timely response.

Yours sincerely 
Simon Wang


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Simon H WANG <

simo...@hkbu.edu.hk>

Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2020 at 12:54

enqu...@dh.gov.hk>

[Simon H WANG]

Dear Mr Lau 

                  Please find my answers to your questions below.

Yours sincerely

Simon Wang 

(i) whether your complaint is directed against (a) Ms Ophelia CHIANG and Mr LAU Leong-wa or (b) the supervisors of these two officers?   

My complaints are directed against the supervisors of the two officers under the assumption that decisions on how to handle my Code on Access to Applications were made with approval from the supervisors.  

(a) if the subjects of complaint are Ms Opehlia CHIANG and Mr LAU Leong-wa

(ii)  According to the information provided by you, it is uncertain whether Ms Ophelia Chiang was involved in handling your applications under the Code on Access to Information.While we shall separately look into this point in our examination of the case, it would be helpful if you can clarify whether your complaint againstMs Chiang is based on her capacity as the Access to Information Officer of the Department of Health or if you have any other encounter(s) withMs Chiang that made you aggrieved?

N/A 

(b) if the subjects of complaint are the two officers' supervisors

(iii) Please kindly advise if there has been any communication between you and the Department of Health ("DH")other than the emails you forwarded to us on 9.7.2020  that give rise to or would be relevant to your complaint against the two officers' supervisors?Your advice would facilitate our verification of information collected from DH in the process of examination. 

I think the Department of Health does not take Code on Access to Information applications seriously in general.  No reference no. is assigned to the application, for example, in contrast to the common practice of doing so found in other departments and bureaus.  In the department's replies, Code on Access to Information is not acknowledged; no mentioning is made about the procedures for review and complaints that could be made to the Ombudsman.  No phone number is provided for making further enquiries.  

Please refer to the attached email correspondence I had with DH back in 2019. On April 2 2019 I raised similar issues about how my Code on Access to Information request was processed; apparently the DH did not learn from that incident.  It seems to me that the Code on Access to Information officer of the DH should be responsible for communicating with members of the public requesting information after collecting and consolidating information from different branches of the department.  

(iv) Please advise if you consider any specific supervisor(s) should be held accountable for your dissatisfaction with DH's handling of your applications under the Code on Access to Information,or your complaint is generally referring to the DH management in the context of application handling under the Code on Access to Information. 

I do not know any specific supervisors who should be held accountable. I think the senior officials at DH in charge of handling Code on Access to Information should be held accountable for not dealing with my request adequately. I raised a number of questions that involve not just policy implementation but policy making.  The Code on Access to Information officer made a mistake to forward my request to the team where Mr Lau Leong Wa belongs to, who is a Chief Medical Technologist (https://www.directory.gov.hk/basic_search2.jsp?fullname=LAU+Leong+wa&ou=&lang=eng&src=bservant) and does not have the authority or expertise to answer questions related to policy making.  

The supervisor of Mr. Lau Leong Wa should also be held accountable for not answering my questions related to testing in a professional way.  A website link is provided without specifying where the answers to my questions could be found. Most of my questions were ignored which should have been forwarded to other branches of DH to follow up.  

Another issue that the bureau may consider is whether the DH should expedite its response to questions that are time-sensitive; although Code on Access to Information sets out a time frame for the requests to be handled, there are questions that can be answered right away or the answers to some questions should have been made available to the public in the first place. There is no reason to delay the response to such questions.  

Thanks again for your attention to this matter.