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HK suspends flights from Philippines, India and Pakistan

Posted on 18 April 2021 No comments

By Daisy CL Mandap 

The flight ban was imposed after the 3 countries were designated 'extremely high risk'

Hong Kong announced late Sunday, Apr 18, that it will stop flights from the Philippines, India and Pakistan for 14 days starting Monday midnight, in line with its “circuit breaker mechanism” under tightened travel restrictions.

At the same time, all three countries have been moved to the “extremely high risk” category, which means anyone who had stayed in these places for more than two hours in the past 21 days are prohibited from boarding a flight to Hong Kong. This is to prevent people from these countries from entering Hong Kong via transit from another place.

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On top of this, travelers from “extremely high risk” places should, after completing 21 days of hotel quarantine, undergo self-monitoring for seven days, and take a fourth Covid-19 test on the 26th day after arrival in Hong Kong.

As of now, three other countries are in this category: the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, where the first mutated strains of the coronavirus were first detected.

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The government statement said the decision to add the three Asian countries to this list was triggered by the case of a man who was found Saturday to have the coronavirus variant 10 days after completing his 21-day quarantine.

The Indian man who had flown in from Dubai, appeared to have infected his Hong Kong-based girlfriend who was also found to carry the variant Sunday.

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As a result of the case, and “for the sake of prudence,” the government said it reviewed imported cases from the past 14 days and decided to implement the “circuit breaker” it put in place recently to stop the spread of the highly infectious variant in the community.

The study reportedly showed the N501Y variant was found in the prescribed number among new arrivals from India, Pakistan and the Philippines in the past two weeks.

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Under the new restrictions that took effect on Apr 14, a total flight ban was supposed to be imposed on any place only when (1) a cumulative number of five passengers (2) are found to have the variant on arrival in Hong Kong (3) within a seven-day-period.

Since it took effect, however, the Philippines is the only place where the prescribed criteria have been met. Two arrivals from Manila were found to have the variant on arrival on Friday, another one on Saturday, and two more Sunday.

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However, far more passengers from India and Pakistan have been testing positive for Covid-19 on arrival, and a big number have been found to have both the virus and the variant while under quarantine.

Of the 29 imported cases recorded Monday, 22 had flown in from India.

More than 100,000 new Covid cases have been recorded in India in a single day

The domestic infection rate in all three countries has been surging as well, with India posting more than 100,000 cases on a single day lately. The surge has also been happening in the Philippines, where the total number of Covid-19 cases is now nearing the one-million mark.

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Earlier, the government announced it was suspending Cathay Pacific Airways from flying from Manila to Hong Kong from tomorrow until May 2, after two of its flights had each carried two passengers confirmed to have Covid-19 on arrival at the airport.

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The flights that carried the infected passengers arrived on Apr 14 and 17.

Similary banned for the same period was Vistara Airlines flight from Mumbai, India. According to a government press release, Vistara’s flight UK6397 which arrived Sunday had three passengers confirmed to have Covid-19 on their arrival test at the airport.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Both CX 906 and UK6397 had been banned previously for the same infraction. 

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HK confirms 30 mostly imported cases including Filipina DH with variant

Posted on No comments

By Vir B. Lumicao 

A record 29 imported cases were reported today

Hong Kong had only one local coronavirus case today, April 18, but its caseload for the day rose to 30 as the rest who tested positive were new arrivals from abroad, including one Filipina and four Indonesian domestic helpers. A record number of 22 infected travelers from India was also reported.

Today’s imported cases were the most recorded in a single day since Mar 15 and took the total tally to 11,684.

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The Centre for Health Protection announced the jump in cases as Health Secretary Sophia Chan said today the government is looking at further tightening hotel quarantine measures and flight restrictions, and banning more flights from high-risk countries.

Chan said in a radio show officials need to assess the situation and discuss with experts before deciding whether stricter measures were warranted.

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She spoke after a 29-year-old Indian man who returned from Dubai and completed 21 days of quarantine tested positive for Covid-19.

The man’s 31-year-old girlfriend, with whom he lives in Parkes Building in Jordan, is today’s only local case. Like her boyfriend, she was found to have the N501Y variant.

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Among today’s imported cases, only the 35-year-old Filipina DH who flew in aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR 300 on Apr 16 and tested positive at the airport, was found to carry the mutated virus.

She brought to three the number of new arrivals from Manila found with the variant since yesterday. Only two more such cases in the next five days would trigger a two-week suspension of all flights from Manila under Hong Kong’s enhanced entry restrictions that took effect on Wednesday, Apr 14.

Today's variant carrier from Manila is the 3rd in 2 days

Chan said Hong Kong strengthened its suspension of flights mechanism as more passengers who arrived recently from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan and other places testing positive with some carrying the highly infectious  N501Y variant.

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“If we look at the past data, from March to now, we have already suspended seven flights for 14 days from different countries. And therefore, with this new mechanism, we envisage that we will be suspending more flights,” she added.

Two of today’s four Indonesian patients arrived on Apr 16 via Cathay Pacific Flight CX798 from Jakarta while the third arrived on CX798 on Apr 17.

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The fourth was asymptomatic upon arrival on Mar 31 and was quarantined at Ramada Hong Kong Harbourview in Sai Ying Pun. Her sample collected on Day 19 tested positive.

All 22 imported cases who arrived from India on April 4 via Vistara Flight UK6395 from New Delhi tested positive after their 12th day of hotel quarantine, the CHP said.

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Ten of them stayed at Ramada Hong Kong Grandview in North Point, six at Ramada Hong Kong Harbourview at Sai Ying Pun, four at Regal Airport Hotel Chek Lap Kok, and two at Dorsett Wanchai Hong Kong.

Two other foreign cases were a man, 19, who arrived from Egypt on a Qatar Air Flight 818 from Doha and developed symptoms upon his arrival on Apr 16, and a woman from Canada aged 22 who arrived on an unknown day this month and tested positive after her 12th day of quarantine at Ramada Hong Kong Grandview in North Point.

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A total of 152 cases have been recorded in the past 14 days from Apr 4 to 17, including 36 local cases of which 12 are from unknown sources.

The Hospital Authority said as of 9am today, a total of 144 confirmed patients were neing treated in 18 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Four patients of the patients are in critical condition, three are serious and the remaining 137 patients stable.

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Case filed by kin of FDH in Mid-Levels death fall dismissed

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By Vir B. Lumicao 

Diola left behind her common-law-husband Jose and their son, Vivejo

A compensation claim filed by the heirs of a Filipina domestic worker who fell to her death from her employer’s Mid-Levels apartment more than six years ago was dismissed on Friday, Apr 16, after neither party appeared for the court hearing.

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District Court judge Katina Levy ordered the case dropped after the common-law husband of the deceased, Ruby Ann Diola, or his representatives, failed to show up for the hearing. Also a no-show was employer Cheung Yeuk Lee.

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It is not clear if the case could be refiled by claimants Virginio V. Jose and Vivejo, his son with Diola.

The father-and-son were represented in court initially by Edwina Antonio, case officer of the Mission for Migrant Workers. But when interviewed on the phone, Antonio said another non-government organization had taken over the case, and she was not aware why it was no longer pursued.

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Diola, a native of Palo, Leyte, fell to her death on Oct 23, 2014 from the residential tower on Robinson Road where Cheung lived. It took the police a year to rule out foul play and classify the case as “death by falling”.

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During a hearing of the case in June 2017, Judge Levy said she was not sure if Antonio had the capacity to represent Jose under Hong Kong law.

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The judge also said Cheung should have been at the hearing because she was the employer of the deceased, and had been fined $5,000 for failing to take out a domestic helper’s insurance on Diola.

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Diola lived with Jose and their son in Lingayen, where they operated a mineral water business, until she came to work in Hong Kong as a domestic worker in 2014.

She terminated her contract with her first employer in May 2014 and was hired by Cheung through an agency.

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According to the statement made by 67-year-old Jose to the police, Diola told him in phone conversations that she was taken by Cheung to Beijing where the Filipina was made to work for about a month without a contract.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Diola was taken afterwards to Macau by the employer’s grown-up son to wait for her Hong Kong visa there. She finally got it in September, 2014, after staying in the enclave for two months.

A month later, Diola was found lifeless beside the swimming pool in Cheung's residential block. She was just 26.

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2 Filipina DHs found with variant on arrival, triggers likely flight ban

Posted on 17 April 2021 No comments

 By Daisy CL Mandap

The 2 FDHs found with the variant took Cebu Pacific flight 5J 272

Two Filipina domestic helpers who were found infected with Covid-19 on arrival in Hong Kong on Apr 15 and also carried the highly infectious variant, raised the possibility of a two-week  suspension being imposed on all flights from the Philippines within days.

They were among 18 additional Covid-19 cases reported today, Apr. 17, which included 10 imported and six local infections.

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Under more stringent restrictions that took effect on Wednesday, Apr 14, all flights from a place would be stopped for a fortnight if a cumulative number of five passengers from there are found to carry the N501Y variant on arrival in Hong Kong within a seven-day period.

The ban is triggered even if the passengers came from different flights, but does not apply when the infected passengers are found infected while under quarantine.

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In addition, the country is raised to the “extremely high risk” category, which apart from the temporary flight ban, would also cover those who had stayed there for at least two hours, even while in transit from another place.

The Filipinas, aged 28 and 29, flew in on board Cebu Pacific flight 5J 272, and were asymptomatic. They were the only imported cases reported to have the variant, known to be 70 times more infections than the common strain of the virus.

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Seven of the imported cases were returning residents from India, while the 10th is an Indonesian domestic helper who tested positive on her 19th day in hotel quarantine.

Two of the Indian returnees arrived on Apr 15 aboard flight QR 818, and tested positive at the airport.

The other five all flew in on Apr 4 aboard flight UK 6395, which is already under a two-week suspension over an earlier infraction.

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A government statement released today said KLM’s Flight 819 from Amsterdam has also been added to the list of suspended routes. 

The ban, which will last from tomorrow until May 1, was imposed after a passenger on the KLM flight on Apr 13 tested positive on arrival in Hong Kong, while another passenger failed to comply with pre-flight requirements.

Chuang says the 6 local cases with unknown sources cause concern

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said that of the eight local cases, six are a cause for concern as their sources of infection are unknown. 

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They included a 29-year-old Indian man who flew in from Dubai and circulated in the community after completing his 21-day hotel quarantine on Apr 8.

The four other patients live in Tuen Mun, prompting Chuang to agree that there seems to be an unseen community transmission going on in the district. The cases are from different sectors, including a cook, an instructor, a taxi driver and a student.

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The sixth untraceable case is a 66-year-old man working as road maintenance staff and lives in Ngau Tau Kok.

Chuang said there were more than 20 preliminary cases, mostly imported.


But they also include 31-year-old kindergarten teacher who caused 100 people to be sent to quarantine, including her young students.

The woman whose source of infection is unknown, went to a variety of places during the incubation period, including Disneyland, a gym where she had Muay Thai classes, and a wedding banquet in Tsim Sha Tsui where there were around 200 guests.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Health officials say they are investigating whether the social distancing restrictions were violated by those who organized the big wedding reception.

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Ramada hotels checked after first local Covid-19 case with variant found

Posted on No comments

By Daisy CL Mandap

No new case was found after Parkes building was locked down (RTHK photo)

Hong Kong health officials have ordered more than 80 residents of a building in Jordan to be moved to a quarantine centre after a man who had stayed there was found to carry the highly infectious coronavirus variant, N501Y. 

Health officials also said at a press briefing earlier today, Apr 17, that they have begun investigating the Ramada chain of hotels, particularly the one in Tsim Sha Tsui where the infected patient had spent his 21-day quarantine after flying in from Dubai on Mar 19.

The patient, a 29-year-old Indian national who holds a Hong Kong ID card, was one of 18 new Covid-19 cases reported today. Ten of the cases are imported and 8 were locally acquired, six of them with unknown sources.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, who heads the infectious disease unit of the Centre for Health Protection, said the man’s case is worrying as it raises the possibility that he acquired the still-unclassified variant from the community.

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She said the man tested negative for the virus at the airport after his arrival, and to two tests given to him on his 12th and 19th day in quarantine at Ramada Grand in TST.

After his release from quarantine, the man moved to a friend’s flat in Parkes Building in Jordan. He strolled around the area, went to eat at Chung King Mansion in Tsim Sha Tsui, visited two bank branches, and even went with friends to Cheung Chau where they had a meal together on Apr 4. He was asymptomatic.

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It was only because he was planning to return to Dubai that he had himself tested for Covid-19 at a community testing centre on Apr 14, and was found infected.

“Yesterday, we discovered he was carrying the variant strain,” said Chuang.

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What worries health experts more is that the patient was found to have a heavy viral load, with a CT value of between 15 and 17, suggesting a recent infection.

Chuang said CHP is studying three possibilities for the cause of his infection. First, that he was infected in Dubai, but the virus took long to incubate; second, that the tests failed to detect his infection; and third and most worryingly, that he acquired the virus and the variant in the community.

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The CHP official said the third possibility is worrying because it means the source of the variant is undetected as well. The patient could have been infected on the plane, at the airport, or at the hotel during quarantine.

“So this is worrying, especially the third possibility,” she said. “But we are still investigating.”

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CHP controller Dr Ronald Lam disclosed that the investigation of the case has included a check on whether “there has been a lapse in infection control at the Ramada Hotel” or whether some environmental factors were involved.

An angle being considered is if the infection occurred during the patient's quarantine 

But Lam said an initial check of the room where the patient had stayed did not show any irregularity in the ventilation or in the drainage system.


“We will conduct the same investigation at other Ramada hotels,” he said, when asked about a series of cases involving travelers who had tested positive for both the coronavirus and the variant after spending their quarantine at one of the branches of the hotel chain.

Of particular concern is a case of three patients who quarantined at Ramada Grand View in North Point before being found infected. The three patients, involving a couple who arrived from Canada and a Filipina who stayed across them in a room on the same floor, were found to have the same genetic sequencing, suggesting they acquired the virus from the same source.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Chuang said health experts had repeatedly checked the CCTV of the hotel to find any possible interaction among the three, but discovered they had all stayed in their respective rooms during the quarantine period. All three consistently maintained as well during interviews that they never left their quarantine.

The Hong Kong University is now said to be looking into dozens of Covid-19 cases that had been detected in the said hotels to find out if there was a possibility that cross infection had occurred.

As soon as the Indian patient was found to carry the variant, health officials locked down Parkes building starting on Friday night and early Saturday morning to test all residents there. But not a single new infection was found during the ambush lockdown.

Not content with this, authorities later ordered about 81 asymptomatic residents in the building to move to quarantine centers, including the infected patient’s friend with whom he lived after his quarantine. Anybody with symptoms was sent to hospital for isolation.

On top of this, a compulsory testing notice was issued for anyone who had stayed in the building for at least two hours between Apr 9 and 16. All those covered by the order must get themselves tested by tomorrow, Apr 18.

The same compulsory testing order was issued to all current residents of Ramada Grand, as well as those who had stayed there at the same time as the infected patient.

In the meantime, investigations are continuing into the places the patient had been to before he was found to have the virus.

Lam said that as a final measure to stop the spread of the virus and its highly transmissible mutations, all residents must get themselves vaccinated.

“Given the resurgence in cases, we ask you all to get vaccinated so we develop a community barrier, or herd immunity,” he said.

He cited as an example the significant drop in infections in Israel, after a large percentage of its population was inoculated against the coronavirus.


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