150 more rooms set aside for FDHs at Rambler Garden Hotel

By The SUN 

From Feb 1, Rambler Garden will take in a total of 650 FDHs for quarantine 

The Labour Department announced today, Jan. 10, that the Rambler Garden Hotel in Tsing Yi will provide an additional 150 rooms for quarantine of foreign domestic helpers arriving from abroad starting on Feb 1.

This would increase the number of rooms available at this designated quarantine facility for FDHs to 650.

However, the daily fee per room per night will increase to $700 from the current $650. This includes the cost of three meals a day and all charges.

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Labour said in its statement that employers and employment agencies can start booking a room at the hotel with the increased capacity from Jan 11, using the online booking system of the hotel. Please click here to enter the booking system.

The statement said the hotel will adjust the number of rooms open for reservation each day depending on availability.

Two other hotels currently serve as DQF for FDHs – Courtyard by Marriott in Shatin and Regala Skycity in Lantau. Together, the three hotels provide about 2,300 rooms to newly arrived or returning FDHs who did not get vaccinated in Hong Kong.

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Agencies lament that the current intake is way below the market demand, as thousands of FDHs are still stuck in their home countries, unable to secure one of the highly coveted quarantine places.

The two-week ban imposed starting on Saturday on all passenger flights coming from the Philippines and seven other countries has made the situation worse, with many Filipina helpers scrambling to book flights and quarantine rooms as a result.

Hong Kong officials said the ban would be reassessed on or before Jan 21, and could be lifted if the Covid-19 situation in each particular country has improved.

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Earlier, Labour Secretary Law Chi-kwong said in a blog that the government was in talks with another hotel on the possibility of providing more rooms for incoming FDHs, as there had been a significant drop in the number of migrant workers here.

Labour’s statement today said the government “understands the need of local families for FDHs.”

However, it said this will have to be balance with the worsening epidemic situation in Hong Kong, and the need to prevent more imported cases from coming in.

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“The government will consider whether more DQFs can be provided having regard to the global and local epidemic situation,” said the statement.

Regala Skycity has allotted the bigest number of roms for FDH quarantine, with more than 1,130 

As a reminder to those planning a book a room at Rambler Garden Hotel, Labour said employers and agencies must register the real name of the worker as shown in her passport as the room bookings are not transferable.

When making a booking, the FDH’s passport copy, valid employment visa and  recognized vaccination record must be made available online. Registration is completed upon the issuance of a booking confirmation by the hotel.

On arrival at the hotel, the FDH under whom a booking was made must present the same identity and visa status before being allowed to check in.

Employers and agencies are also reminded to check the worker’s flight information and allow sufficient time to prepare the required documents and complete the procedure for booking a room.

If a change has been made to the person’s reservation, as when the flight is cancelled or the FDHs has tested positive for Covid-19 before arriving in Hong Kong, the payment will be refunded to the person who made the reservation.

An FDH who does not have a booking confirmation by a DQF will not be allowed to board a flight for Hong Kong, or denied entry upon arrival here.

The above arrangement for quarantine at DQFs is applicable to FDHs who have been fully vaccinated in regions where Hong Kong has reached a recognition agreement arrangement on their vaccination records.

This currently applies to those vaccinated in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

For the full list of applicable regions, please visit: www.coronavirus.gov.hk/pdf/places_of_issuance_recognised_vaccination_records.pdf.

As for FDHs who were vaccinated in Hong Kong and places of stringent regulatory authorities designated by the World Health Organisation (including Thailand), they may undergo compulsory quarantine at any designated quarantine hotel or DQF.

Labour’s dedicated FDH portal (www.fdh.labour.gov.hk) provides information and useful links relating to the quarantine arrangements of FDHs.

For enquiries, please contact the LD through its 24-hour hotline at 2717 1771 (manned by 1823) or by email to fdh-enquiry@labour.gov.hk.

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