Evidence for closure of beaches
Dear Department of Health,
When the re-opening of indoor venues such as restaurants, cinemas, and gyms is prioritised over the opening of beaches is it possible to explain in more detail your rationale for why beaches are thought to be higher risk? Can you share the evidence and modelling this is based on (e.g. predicted transmission rates, evidence of any cases of transmission on beaches, etc.). And also provide detail on how different venues are selected over others.
Yours faithfully,
Scott Edmunds
Dear Mr Edmunds,
Referring to your preceding email , please be advised that the requested
information is under the purview of the Leisure and Cultural Services
Department ("LCSD"). Subject to your consent of providing the preceding
email to LCSD, we will refer your case to LCSD accordingly. Grateful if
you would reply to me by 9.9.2020.
If you have any enquiry, please contact me at 3107 2570. Thank you.
Regards,
Miss Denise WONG
for Department of Health
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Dear Department of Health,
Thanks for getting back to me. Please forward this request to the LcSD.
Yours faithfully,
Scott Edmunds
Dear Mr Edmunds,
Thank you for giving consent for referring your case to the Leisure and
Cultural Services Department ("LCSD"). We have already referred your case
accordingly. The contact point of the Access to Information Officer of
LCSD is appended below for your reference.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Telephone No: | (852) 2601 8968 |
|----------------+-------------------------------------------------------|
| Fax No: | (852) 2603 0642 |
|----------------+-------------------------------------------------------|
| Email Address: | [email address] |
|----------------+-------------------------------------------------------|
| Address: | Leisure and Cultural Services Headquarters, Room |
| | 1304, 13/F |
| | No. 1-3 Pai Tau Street, Sha Tin |
| | New Territories |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
If you have any enquiry, please contact me at 3107 2570. Thank you.
Regards,
Miss Denise WONG
for Department of Health
==============================================================================
Disclaimer : This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for
the designated recipient only. It may contain information that is
privileged for the designated recipient. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, retention, disclosure,
copying, printing, forwarding or dissemination of the message is strictly
prohibited. If you have received the message in error, please erase all
copies of the message (including attachments) from you system and notify
the sender immediately.
From: Scott Edmunds <[FOI #498 email]>
To: FOI requests at Department of Health <[Department of Health request email]>
Date: 04/09/2020 下午 07:26
Subject: Re: *Restricted: (ENQ 20 09 8762) Freedom of Information
request - Evidence for closure of beaches
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #498 email]
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Dear Mr Edmunds,
Code on Access to Information
Re: Application No. 75/2020
With reference to your application received on 2 September 2020
seeking access to information in relation to beaches, our reply is as
follows-
(Mr Austin TUNG)
for Director of Leisure and Cultural Services
Dear Austin MK TUNG,
Many thanks for your reply, which answered some of my question on the rationale you are using but doesn't clarify my question on the evidence and modelling this policy is based on. You are trying to use control measures set up for indoor environments, so is any consideration or differences taken into account in your policy for potential lower transmission outdoors, or are you treating indoor and outdoor settings in exactly the same manner?
Previously reported research has shown that transmission of COVID-19 in a closed environment was 18.7 times greater compared to an open-air environment [1], and only 3 out of 1500 reported super spreading events in the LSHTM Superspreading Events database have been from outdoor events [2]. If you define beaches as "risky" compared to other venues, do you have any evidence to the contrary of the references given below or reports of any incidences of COVID-19 transmission on beaches (from Hong Kong or anywhere else in the world)?
Yours sincerely,
Scott Edmunds
1. Closed environments facilitate secondary transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Hiroshi Nishiura et al., medRxiv 2020.02.28.20029272 https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.28.20029...
2. LSHTM “SARS-CoV-2 Superspreading Events from Around the World’ database https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...)
Dear Mr Edmunds,
Code on Access to Information
Re: Application No. 76/2020
With reference to your application received on 15 September 2020
seeking access to information in relation to beaches, our reply is as
follows-
(Mr Austin TUNG)
for Director of Leisure and Cultural Services
