Chief Secretary John Lee today urged the public to comply with the requirement of using the LeaveHomeSafe mobile app before entering government buildings or offices.

The new requirement took effect today, under which all people, except for those exempted, have to scan the venue QR code at government premises by using the LeaveHomeSafe mobile app before their entry.

Speaking to the media, Mr Lee explained that the use of the LeaveHomeSafe mobile app can facilitate the Government's anti-epidemic work.

He said: "I hope the public will appreciate that all we are trying to do is to ensure that, overall, we have an effective strategy to do contact tracing and to ensure that we will, in the first instance, be able to identify whoever may be infected with COVID-19 or subject to that risk so that we can control and prevent it from being spread and also prevent people from unnecessarily encountering the possibility of having to go into a quarantine centre.

"So the intention is to ensure that we have an effective system."

He added that venue staff will provide assistance to people who are not familiar with using the mobile app.