MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): President, in fact, the influenza is constantly mutating, and a second or third wave outbreak is very likely to happen, an outbreak of influenza pandemic may even take place on a yearly basis. In this case, the impact on school bus owners and drivers will be immense. May I ask the Government, when it sees that this will last for a longer period of time, will a long-term policy be formulated, so that school bus owners and drivers can be better prepared for the operation of the business they are engaging in? As the influenza may occur consistently, will the Government formulate a long-term policy?
SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION (in Cantonese): I would like to talk about that according to the past experience, the impact of influenza on society was extensive, but over the years, large-scale suspension of classes had not been caused by a pandemic outbreak, thus no serious impact had been caused to the school bus trade. Just now I have also emphasized that if individual schools are affected, according to our current guidelines, classes have to be suspended for seven days, that is to say, it will not cause an across-the-board impact on the trade, and the situation will only occur in individual schools. According to the information I have at hand, not many schools had to suspend classes in the past. There are almost 1 000 schools in Hong Kong, but according to the information I have at hand, only a few dozens were affected. Therefore, different schools will be affected at different times. At present, of course it is impossible to estimate the impact on individual school bus owners or operators, but according to factual evidence in the past, the impact should not be too serious.