(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has no plan to impose a citywide lockdown at the moment, Chief Secretary John Lee said today.

Mr Lee made the remarks when he met the media after attending the second Mainland-Hong Kong thematic meeting on the COVID-19 epidemic in Shenzhen.

He noted that the Hong Kong SAR Government raised several requests for assistance to the central government at the meeting, including sending Mainland experts to assist Hong Kong in the epidemiological investigation and analysis, enhancing the city's testing capabilities, as well as helping to construct quarantine and isolation facilities.

The Hong Kong side also asked for the provision of rapid antigen test kits and anti-epidemic supplies such as beds, furniture for anti-epidemic facilities, masks and protective gear.

The central government has accepted in principle the general direction of the requests and will comprehensively consider them, Mr Lee said.

It will also take measures with Guangdong to ensure a stable supply of fresh food, vegetables and daily necessities to Hong Kong.

Moreover, the central government, Guangdong and the Hong Kong SAR Government have agreed to jointly establish task forces to tackle targeted issues as soon as possible. The task forces will include those on epidemiologists, testing, quarantine facilities, assurance of medical supplies and other supplies.

The Chief Secretary also explained why the Hong Kong SAR Government currently has no plan to place the entire city under lockdown.

"At the present moment, we do not have this plan because we believe that with the enhanced anti-epidemic measures that we have introduced, it will have a beneficial effect and because we have just introduced some tighter social distancing measures.

"Also, with the assistance from the Mainland, we believe that our capability of fighting the pandemic will be increased and we will be seeing positive improvement in those areas."