 |
| The new quarantine measure raises question of where migrant workers will stay, and who will look after them |
Foreign domestic workers who will arrive in Hong Kong from their home countries from Mar 19 could
face a tough time, as they will be included in the city’s new move to put all
foreign arrivals under home quarantine or surveillance for 14 days.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the new measure today,
Mar 17, amid recent data showing nearly all of Hong Kong ’s
new cases are imported, meaning they have been brought in by people arriving
from various parts of the world.
As of today, the city’s confirmed cases rose to 162, with
five more people testing positive, including a French student who studied in Switzerland
Lam said after an Executive Council meeting that the new
measure does not apply to those arriving from Macau or Taiwan China
She said the decision was taken after top officials met
expert advisers, who said Hong Kong needed to shift to control of imported
infections to curb the spread of the coronavirus, now that the epicenter of the
contagion had shifted from China
Most of the cases confirmed in the previous two weeks
involved patients who had recently been abroad, Lam said.
 |
| Pindutin pra sa detalye! |
“If we do not impose tougher measures at this stage, our
previous efforts to prevent the disease from spreading throughout these two
months could be completely wasted,” Lam said before the Executive Council
meeting.
“If all these imported cases lead to a community outbreak,
the consequence will be unimaginable and increase the burden on the public
health system.”
 |
| CE Lam says the imported cases could lead to a community outbreak |
Home quarantine is a cause for concern for arriving migrant
domestic workers as a problem could arise as to where they should stay, or who
should be attending to them while they self-isolate.
Employers are not likely to agree to look after them, on top
of taking them in, given Hong Kong ’s problem
with lack of space.
For Filipino domestic workers who are scrambling to book
tickets back to Hong Kong as a result of a
recent community lockdown imposed by the Philippine government on its biggest
island that includes Metro Manila, the quarantine would be an extra cause for
distress.
One of them is M.L., who says she is stuck in the central province of Iloilo ,
and is still serving a 14-day self-quarantine mandated by the Philippine
government on all Filipinos who fly in from Hong Kong .
Aside from mobility problems because of the lockdown and
quarantine, M.L. faces a difficulty getting a flight back in Hong
Kong , as all airports in Metro Manila and surrounding areas will
close down, also on Mar 19.
 |
| Call now! |
Other Filipino domestic workers who are similarly stranded
in the Philippines
As of this writing, 183,055 cases were reported globally
with the death toll from nearly 150 countries rising to 7,415.
The mainland tally has been exceeded by the total number of
cases and deaths in Italy , Iran , Spain ,
Korea , France , Germany
and the United States
In its latest update, the Centre for Health Protection confirmed
that an 18-year-old French Hong Kong student who returned from Switzerland
The CHP also said two university students who had just
returned from Britain
Among the eight confirmed or positive cases since last night,
seven had travel history. At least four of them had just returned to the city and
were among 21 patients who were diverted from Hong Kong
airport to nine hospitals on Monday night.
The CHP also said the foreign domestic helper of a
73-year-old patient in Tuen Mun who tested positive of Covid-19 on Mar 13 will
be put under quarantine after the wife of the patient was admitted into
hospital but found preliminarily negative of the virus.
The maid’s nationality has not been disclosed.
Meanwhile, Lam announced that it was “quite impossible” to fully
resume school classes on Apr 20 considering the second wave of imported
infections. She added no large-scale events would be organized by the
government due to the imported cases.
---
I-try mo ito, Kabayan: Kung interesado kang ma-contact ang mga advertiser namin dito, pindutin lang ang kanilang ad, at lalabas ang auto-dialer o kanilang website. Pindutin ulit and auto diaoer upang tumawag. Hindi na kailangang pindutin isa-isa ang mga numero.
 |
| Call now! |
