HK official says diplomats quarantine-exempt but must follow rules

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Chan tells legislators quarantine exemptions are necessary to keep HK going

Hong Kong has recorded more than 200 confirmed coronavirus cases involving air and sea crew members, but has not kept tabs of cases involving government officials, such as foreign diplomats. 

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan disclosed this in the Legislative Council Question Hour today, Aug 18, in answer to a query by LegCo Member Chan Cun-ying.   

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Responding to a question from Legco member Chan Cun-ying, Chan said the Chief Secretary has exempted certain categories of persons from quarantine to keep the society and economy running.

These exempted persons include cross-boundary goods vehicle drivers, aircraft crew members, and government officials, she said. 

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“These officials include consuls general or equivalent of the consulates general in Hong Kong and their immediate family members,” Chan said.

But their exemption upon arrival in Hong Kong is subject to certain conditions, including regular testing, self-isolation or restricted movement, the secretary said.

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“These conditions are adjusted from time to time in accordance with the global and local epidemic situation and the risk assessment of respective exemption categories,” Chan said, adding these people also are subject to medical surveillance while in Hong Kong.

The exemption of foreign diplomats and their families was on the spotlight last month when three minor children of a Saudi Arabian consular officer in Hong Kong infected with the Delta variant were found to have breached their home isolation.

The diplomats' children left their Taikoo home where they were supposed to isolate

During the investigation, the Department of Health discovered that the diplomat’s children had left their home in Taikoo Shing where they were meant to be in isolation.

“The DH took immediate action to revoke their exemption status and transfer them to undergo compulsory quarantine. The Protocol Division also contacted the relevant consulate general immediately,” Chan said.

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“The consulate general assured that it would fully cooperate with the quarantine measures imposed by the government and has reminded its officials to comply with the relevant quarantine requirements,” she said.

Chan said the Hong Kong government has reviewed the border control arrangements for exempted persons and has issued letters to respective consulates general to advise relevant persons to strictly comply with the exemption conditions.

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She said the government does not have information on the exemption arrangements by other jurisdictions for officials of their consulates general and their immediate family members.

For other government officials carrying out duties in Hong Kong and those who have performed official duties in places outside China or Taiwan on the 21 days prior to arrival in Hong Kong, they must be subject to self-isolation upon arrival in the SAR, Chan said.

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She said from July 1 last year to August 6, there had been 145 air crew members and 112 seafarers who were confirmed Covid-19 cases.

Meanwhile, the CHP confirmed three new Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong today, Aug 18, all of them imported.

The three are a woman from Turkey aged 39, a 31-year-old seaman from Indonesia, and a man aged 27 who arrived from the United States. The woman and the man from the US were asymptomatic.

The woman arrived on Aug 13 via Qatar Airways flight QR818 and tested positive on Day 3 of her quarantine at Dorsett Hotel in Wan Chai.

The man from the US tested positive on arrival at Hong Kong airport. 

Staff from the Department of Health said the seaman was on board a ship that had been anchored in Hong Kong waters for several days when he fell ill. 

He was confirmed positive yesterday, but his ship had already left Hong Kong for an unknown destination. 

The new patients took Hong Kong’s Covid-19 tally to 12,043.

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CE scraps plan to give antibody test at airport to shorten quarantine

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

CE Lam says the government will follow experts' advise not to cut quarantine period

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has announced the scrapping of a plan to give antibody tests to non-residents arriving in Hong Kong so they can cut their quarantine period.  She also said even the ongoing serology tests given locally to residents before they go on trips abroad could be scrapped.

This, she said at a press conference held earlier today, is in line with the recommendation announced last night by a panel of experts advising the government on its pandemic response.

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The plan, first announced by the experts on Jun 18, would have allowed people coming in to take the antibody test at the airport, and if they test positive, they could have their hotel quarantine cut to as short as seven days.

Residents who got inoculated here could get the antibody test done in a local laboratory before traveling abroad, and use their positive result within three months to enjoy the shortened quarantine on their return.

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The CE said that after their meeting last night, the experts advised the government that because of the prevalence of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in many parts of the world, it would be better “to err on the side of caution” and suspend the plan.

Lam said, “That means we will not be introducing Phase II which we have announced, that is for non-Hong Kong residents to get a certificate of antibody test in Hong Kong and then reduce the quarantine period. We may even have to suspend the Phase I for Hong Kong residents.”

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She said the details would be announced later in the day by the Secretary for Food and Health.

The government leader extended her apologies to people whose travel plans may have been thrown in disarray by the scrapping of the plan, but said this is being done to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Hong Kong.

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“We do not want to reverse our decisions on a frequent basis and we have managed not to do so since April 12 when I announced this new direction. But sometimes in order to err on the side of caution and to prevent the spread of the disease, we have to do it and this is why we are going to act in accordance with the experts' advice and announce the details later,” she said.

Lam said Hong Kong is forced to change its policies to keep up with the frequent change in circumstances relating to the spread of the Delta variant.

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“This proves that it is not an exact science to deal with COVID-19. We have to continuously review the situation together with the experts and take account of their advice to design our policies,” she said.

The experts recommended that hotel quarantine should at least be 14 days

The experts advised last night that vaccinated residents arriving from medium-risk countries should not be allowed to spend less than 14 days in hotel quarantine, and undergo another week of self-monitoring.

If they are not vaccinated, they should spend 21 days in hotel quarantine. Non-residents from these places will no longer be allowed to enter, vaccinated or not.

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Only those coming from New Zealand, the only low-risk country on Hong Kong’s list, could qualify for the seven-day quarantine if they are vaccinated.

The experts met after a foreign domestic helper who flew in from the United States and managed to shorten her quarantine to seven days was found infected with the L452R mutant strain on her 12th day test.

Also yesterday, the government announced that 15 more countries, including the United States, United Arab Emirates, France, Spain and Thailand, were being relegated to the high risk category.

This means that like the nine places previously listed under this category, only residents coming in from these countries will be allowed to enter Hong Kong.

In addition, they must all be fully vaccinated, hold recognized vaccination records, test negative for a PCR test conducted within 72 hours of departing for Hong Kong, and present a confirmed booking for a 21-day stay in a designated hotel for quarantine.

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‘Re-positive case’ ends HK’s 58-day zero infection streak

By The SUN 

The man was working as a welder in this address when he tested positive

The Centre for Health Protection has added the 43-year-old welder who tested preliminary positive for Covid-19 Monday in the list of six confirmed infections today, Aug 5, but said his is a “re-positive” case.

Although his infection is deemed to be an old one, he became the first local case to have been detected in nearly two months.

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According to the CHP, the patient was asymptomatic but his deep-throat saliva sample collected during regular testing on Aug 2 tested preliminary positive with a high Ct value of 36-38, meaning he had a low viral load.

On admission to hospital the next day, he tested positive for antibody against Covid-19.

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Investigations revealed that he had tested negative through regular testing requirement since May this year.

“After examining the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory findings, this case is compatible with a re-positive case previously undiagnosed,” said the CHP statement.

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As a precaution, the building where he resides was put under lockdown overnight, and all its residents compelled to undergo testing. No positive case was uncovered.

Two construction sites where the man worked and places he recently visited were also put under compulsory testing. Everyone who had been present at the designated places during the specified period need to undergo compulsory testing on or before Aug 6.

2 of the 5 imported cases were detected at the airport, the others during quarantine

Five imported cases were also detected today, raising Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 12,002 cases.

Four of them were found to carry a mutant strain of the coronavirus, while the test result of the fifth is still pending. Three were fully vaccinated.

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Two, both females, tested positive on arrival: a 24-year-old from Ireland and a 35-year-old from Russia.

The woman from Ireland was fully vaccinated and carried the L452R mutant strain. The other woman was unvaccinated and her result for the variant test is pending.

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The three other patients, all men, tested positive while in hotel quarantine. Two of them, a 71-year-old who came from Cambodia and a 37-year-old from the United States, are both fully vaccinated, the first with AstraZeneca, and the other with BioNTech.

The third is a 16-year-old boy from Thailand who is unvaccinated and was found to carry the L452R mutant virus, like the man from the US. The man from Cambodia carried the N501Y mutant strain.

For the past two weeks until yesterday, a total of 26 Covid-19 cases had been reported, and all were classified as imported.

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7 imported cases reported; 6 with mutant virus, 3 vaccinated

by Daisy CL Mandap

4 of the 7 infected passengers flew aboard Qatar Air, triggering a ban on its flight from Doha

Seven imported cases of Covid-19 were reported in Hong Kong today, Jul 20, taking the number of confirmed cases to 11,965.

The new cases include two who came from the United States, two from Bangladesh, and one each from Japan, France and Iran. All flew in on Jul 18 and tested positive on arrival test at Hong Kong airport.

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All but one of the cases were found to carry the L452R strain of the coronavirus, often associated with the highly infectious Delta variant.

Three had two shots each of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong between March and April before flying abroad. All of them had the mutated virus.

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They include the 27 year man who was reported as having tested preliminary positive yesterday after arriving from the US. His infection prompted an overnight lockdown of a building in Sheung Wang where he resided while in Hong Kong, but no other case was detected.

The other two are a 52-year-old man who also came from the US and developed symptoms on arrival in Hong Kong, and a 39-year-old man who came from France.

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The other four patients are a 33-year-old man who came from Japan, a 58-year-old man from Iran, and two young females, aged 12 and 16, who came from Bangladesh.

Only the 12-year-old Bangladeshi girl did not have the mutant strain.

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As four of the patients flew in aboard QR 818 from Doha, the flight operated by Qatar Airways has been suspended for 14 days starting today, Jul 20 until Aug 2. These passengers include those who originated from Bangladesh, France and Iran.

3 of the 4 passengers who flew in from Doha had the mutated virus

The ban on QR 818 left many passengers booked to come to Hong Kong on the same flight scrambling to find other airlines and sorting out their quarantine arrangements.

One traveler who was scheduled to fly into Hong Kong with her young daughter via QR 818 posted an appeal in a Facebook travelers support group for help in booking another quarantine hotel as she had to change airlines because of the ban.

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Others complained of not being informed early enough about the ban, and finding out about it only from the Hong Kong government’s official announcement which came out this afternoon.

The flight ban was triggered not just by the four passengers who tested positive on arrival tests on Sunday, but also of another woman from Bangladesh who was found infected with both Covid-19 and the mutated strain when she arrived on Jul 14.

In its statement today, the CHP again urged the public to avoid non-essential travel outside Hong Kong, particularly to places designated as extremely high risk and very high risk.

Parents are also asked to avoid taking unvaccinated children with them when they travel.

If travel is unavoidable, passengers must ensure they get fully vaccinated before leaving. They should wear a surgical mask in public places at all times and maintain strict personal and environmental hygiene.

Information about the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong can be found  (www.coronavirus.gov.hk) or through the WhatsApp helpine at 9617 1823, or by clicking the link, wa.me/85296171823?text=hi,. 

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Woman vaccinated with Sinopharm tests positive for Covid-19 on arrival in HK

By Daisy CL Mandap 

The woman from Dubai was fully vaccinated but was found to carry a mutated virus

A 40-year-old woman who recently flew in from the United Arab Emirates is the only case of Covid-19 reported in Hong Kong today, Jul 16.

The woman, who tested positive on arrival at Hong Kong airport, was found to carry the L452R mutant virus, although she was asymptomatic.

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Staff at the Centre for Health Protection said the patient had received two jabs of the Sinopharm vaccine in Dubai. The first was on Feb 1 and the second on Feb 22.

The patient took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 11,956 confirmed cases, after yesterday’s zero-infection record.

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A statement issued by the CHP today also mentioned a possible re-positive case, involving a sea crew who arrived in Hong Kong from India on Jul 13.

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The 32-year-old man reportedly tested negative for Covid-19 on his arrival at Hong Kong airport, then went straight to his cargo ship. A sample collected from him the next day (Jul 14) showed he was positive for Covid-19 and carried the L452R strain.

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Initial investigations by the CHP revealed he was found infected with Covid-19 in India last May, and has not been vaccinated.

Tests carried out after his admission to hospital on Jul 15 showed he was positive for antibodies against Covid-19.

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CHP said that after examining all clinical and laboratory findings on the man, his infection was classified as a re-positive case.

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But “for prudence’s sake,” all sea crew members of his vessel will be quarantined on board for 21 days, said the CHP. In addition, his vessel, the Maersk Lima at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, will be put under compulsory testing order.

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For the latest on the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong, log on to the thematic website, www.coronavirus.gov.hk or via the WhatsApp helpline, 9617 1823.

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Congen says HK plans to lift ban on vaccinated travelers

By Daisy CL Mandap

Under the plan, only vaccinated travelers from the Philippines will be allowed entry to HK

Nearly three months since the Philippines was included in the list of “extremely high-risk places” for Covid-19 from where no passengers would be allowed to fly into Hong Kong, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

At least, for those who have completed their vaccine jabs.

Consul General Raly Tejada has revealed that Hong Kong plans to open its border for vaccinated residents and workers from all countries affected by its flight ban, although the details have yet to be finalized and no date has been fixed.

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That should include thousands of people in the Philippines who have been itching to come here since Hong Kong imposed a ban on all passenger flights from the country starting April 20 this year.

ConGen Tejada made the disclosure in reply to a query from The SUN on whether his long-standing plan to discuss the flight ban with Hong Kong officials through their technical working group consultations had pushed through.

Congen said the return of Filipino residents and workers to Hong Kong from the Philippines was among the items discussed in the TWG meeting held last week.

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“We asked them to reexamine out classification as A1, with the view to removing us from the extremely high-risk category,” he said.

“We also asked them to allow our residents and workers to come back given their need to work as well as the demand for their services.”

In response, the Hong Kong officials said they recognized the importance of the issue and agreed that residents and workers need to come back.

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“They added that Hong Kong initially plans to open the border for vaccinated residents and workers from all countries under the ban,” said Congen. However, they have not yet finalized the details of the scheme.

Congen Tejada had long wanted to ask for the lifting of the ban on the Philippines

If the plan does go ahead, those who will qualify to enter Hong Kong are Filipino residents or those with employment or student visas who have completed two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine at least 14 days before their scheduled departure.

Other requirements, including a negative test result prior to boarding and upon arrival, as well as the duration of the quarantine period, should be among those that will have to be determined by Hong Kong authorities.

Apart from the Philippines, those in the A1 or extremely high-risk category are India, Pakistan, Nepal, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia and United Kingdom.

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The last two were added only recently - Indonesia on Jun 25 and the UK on Jul 1 -  after a number of their travelers tested positive on arrival for the highly infectious L452R strain of the coronavirus.

Under the strictest travel restriction currently enforced, anyone who had stayed in any of these countries for at least two hours within 21 days prior to their intended departure date, will not be allowed to board a flight to Hong Kong.

If they get relegated to the second highest category, which is A2 for “very high-risk” places, travelers will have to present a negative result for a PCR-based nucleic acid test prior to boarding and quarantine for 21 days, whether or not they are vaccinated.

In addition, they will have to get tested on arrival, four times during quarantine,and on the 26^th day after arrival at any community testing centre.

The only country in this category now is Ireland.

For more information on Hong Kong's boarding and quarantine restrictions, visit: https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/inbound-travel.html#quarantinemeasures2