(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Hospital Authority today announced public hospitals will allow pregnant women’s husbands or partners to accompany them during childbirth from January 12 if they abide by infection control measures.

The authority’s Coordinating Committee (Obstetrics & Gynaecology) Chairman Dr Au Yeung Kam-chuen said one of the measures that those who accompany pregnant woman will have to follow is to obtain a negative COVID-19 result in advance.

Dr Au said: “We understand that pregnant women may go into labour at any time. So we would advise those at full-term pregnancy that if husbands or partners want to accompany their wives or partners, they should try to arrange undergoing COVID-19 testing at regular intervals in preparation for that.

“We accept any negative test results for the past three days. So in reality, I understand that they may need to repeat the testing once every three days until their wives or partners deliver.

“It's quite demanding but I think this is a measure that both sides need to take to achieve a good outcome for letting them stay with their wives or partners during labour.”

Other measures for husbands or partners include wearing masks, having a normal body temperature and not living in buildings under the compulsory testing notice.