Two Tuen Mun nurses test positive for Covid-19

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Thousands of Tuen Mun residents line up for tests amid fears of silent transmissions (RTHK photo)

The Omicron-fueled spread of the coronavirus in Tuen Mun appears to be widening, with two nurses being reported as having tested preliminary positive on Thursday, Jan 13.

Speaking at the daily press briefing, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the two female patients worked for the same clinic chain in Tuen Mun where they also live, but they had no overlapping duties.

One of them, a 21-year-old parttime nurse, assisted a doctor in his clinic at Gold Coast Piazza on Jan 3 in examining an 11-year-old boy with symptoms wearing only a surgical mask.

The boy was not given a test and he was confirmed infected on Jan 12. He was believed to have caught the virus from his father who sold a bottle of shampoo to an infected Cathay flight crew at his dispensary in the H.A.N.D.S. mall in Tuen Mun. The father infected his wife and a daughter as well.

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Chuang said the Jan. 3 examination of the boy was the likely source of the nurse’s infection, even if she stood behind the doctor a few feet away.

The nurse worked parttime at various clinics in the chain and attended classes at Baptist University’s School of Continuing Education.

The second nurse, who is 22, also worked at the clinic chain, but was on different shifts.

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“As for how the second nurse got infected, it’s possible that there was some silent transmission in the clinic,” Chuang said.

As a precaution, everyone who worked with the two nurses during the incubation period will be quarantined, she said.

Their residential blocks, identified as JC Place Tower 1, 345 Castle Peak Road – Castle Peak Bay and Block 2, Hoi Tak Gardens, 13-17 Wing Fat Lane, both in Tuen Mun, have been put on overnight lockdown.

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Meanwhile, the case involving a female security guard at Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre who also lives in Tuen Mun showed how fast Omicron could be passed on.

She tested negative for the virus on Jan 8 as part of the regular screening for camp staff. The next day, she posted a notice on the room door of a guest who tested positive afterwards, with just a screen partition between them. She developed symptoms on Jan 10 and tested positive on Jan 12.

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Genome sequencing directly linked her to the infected guest, causing her case to be labeled import-related instead of untraceable.

The outbreak in Tuen Mun sparked fears of a silent transmission and led experts to advise residents in the district to undergo testing.

4 doctors at Prince of Wales who checked on the maskless patient will be quarantined

Another preliminary positive case that is causing concern is that of a 29-year-old Pakistani male who worked at a construction site and doubled as a Panda food delivery crew.

The man met an accident and was rushed to the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital where he was put under intensive care. He was then moved to Prince of Wales Hospital for an emergency surgery.

In line with standard procedure, he was tested and was found positive with a low viral load initially, before giving a Ct reading of 13, which indicated he was highly infectious. Subsequent tests all returned a negative result, however.

Chuang said the man is suspected to be a re-positive case but further investigations are being carried out. As a precaution, patients who shared a cubicle with him in the hospital were all moved to isolation rooms.

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But four doctors at Prince of Wales who examined him while he was maskless were sent to quarantine.

The CHP reported 14 Covid-19 cases for the day, five of them local transmissions. They took Hong Kong’s total tally to 13,016.

Asked if the decline in the number of cases indicated that the latest outbreak had been contained, Chuang said it was too early to say simply because links were found among the locally detected infections.

“They were detected in the community, so they spent some time in the community and that would also cause some transmission,” she said.

She also reminded everyone that Hong Kong has imposed a ban on passenger flights coming from eight countries, which could be the real reason why fewer cases were being reported.

Filipina in Central bus crash set to go home after surviving serious head injury

by Daisy CL Mandap 

Lyn's thick long hair had to be shaved so doctors could open her skull and operate

She may have spent Christmas and New Year in hospital because of the horrific head injury she sustained after being hit by a KMB bus in Central on Dec 5, but Lyn B. is still glad to be alive.

After having part of her skull removed to release a blood clot in her brain and spending more than a month at the Maclehose Medical Rehabilitation Centre in Pokfulam, Lyn is set to go back to her employer’s house in Hang Hau tomorrow, Jan. 14.

Lyn, 33, knows she is lucky twice over. She not only survived her injuries despite being listed as critical initially and getting intubated, she also got to keep her job. Her employer of one year has been in touch with her on a regular basis and told her not to worry about the hospital bills.

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She also had friends and family members who worried over her, and even told her to just go home to recover if she wanted to.

But the incident also gave her time to reflect on her mistakes that led to her being hit by the bus at high speed at about midnight on that Sunday.

Lyn admits she was drunk and did not use the pedestrian crossing when she sprinted from the Li Yuen alleys and dashed across Des Voeux Road Central to get to the other side.

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She, along with a Filipino domestic worker who was apparently only slightly hurt, were hit by a speeding west-bound KMB bus no 111 at about 11:57pm that day. The impact was such  the left windshield of the vehicle was shattered and it had to be towed away.

“Lesson learned po,” Lyn told The SUN over the phone. “Kasalanan ko naman talaga yun.” (I’ve learned by lesson. I admit it was my fault).

Police said then that the 58-year-old bus driver was held for questioning but was not arrested.

Lyn said she had been drinking with friends and rushed to catch the MTR home at about midnight. She was the first to leave the gathering and was alone when she crossed the street. She didn’t know the Filipino man who was struck by the bus at the same time.

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A similar incident happened just two Sundays earlier, when another Filipino man described by the police as drunk, was hit at exactly the same spot. Judging from videos taken by bystanders he was not as seriously hurt as Lyn and the other man involved in the same bus crash.

Lyn was rushed to Queen Mary Hospital unconscious and had to be operated on to release the pressure on a burst artery in her brain.

A picture taken shortly after the surgery showed a big part of her skull had been sliced open to stop the bleeding inside. She was told she would have to go back to the hospital for another surgery so that part her artery that had been clipped out could be put back once it has healed.

Lyn is grateful to friends and relatives who comforted her while she was in hospital

Lyn, a single mother of two girls, was initially worried about not getting her full pay while in hospital. But help could be coming her way.

She has been advised to apply for financial help through a little-known program by the Social Welfare Department called the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance scheme, which provides compensation to victims of vehicular accidents who are in Hong Kong legally.

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The fund pays all victims, regardless of whether they were partly to blame for the accident, for as long as they were injured and had to hospitalized for at least three days. The family of those who died from such accidents could also seek help.

The amount would depend on the injuries sustained, the victim’s income and financial impact on their dependents.

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Apart from this possible payout, Lyn said her employer had told her about making a claim against the FDH insurance taken out in her name.

For now, however, Lyn is more than happy enough to have come out of the incident alive and to be able to continue working in Hong Kong to provide for her daughters’ needs.

Dapat bang doblehin ang suot na face mask?

mula sa The SUN

Mas maigi daw na patungan ng cloth mask ang disposable mask para mas nakalapat ito

Kailangang magsuot ng dobleng facemask upang makaiwas na mahawa sa mabilis kumakalat na sakit, lalo na sa mga nagtatrabaho sa mga lugar na nagkaroon ng pagkalat ng Omicron variant ng Covid-19, mga nagpupunta sa matataong lugar, mga matatanda at mga mahina ang resistensya, ayon sa dalawang eksperto.

Ang dahilan: napatunayan nila ang matagal nang sapantaha ng marami, na ang coronavirus na taglay ang lubhang nakakahawa na Omicron variant ay air-borne o palutang-lutang sa hangin. Kumakalat ito galing sa maysakit at maaring malanghap ng kahit na sino, kahit yung may suot nang surgical mask. 

Ang unang nagpayo ng tinatawag na "double masking " ay si Dr. Yuen Kwok-yung, isang propesor sa microbiology ng University of Hong Kong at nangungunang tagapayo ng gobyerno sa paglaban sa Covid-19. 

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Iminungkahi niya ito matapos makumpirma noong Miyerkules (Mar 12) na nakukuha ang bagong variant sa hangin base sa paraan kung paano nakaakyat nang tatlong palapag ang Omicron sa Maple Gardens sa North Point.

Ayon kay Dr. Yuen, may isang nag-positibo sa virus sa flat 6B kaya dinala sa ospital ang kanyang mga kasama sa bahay upang i quarantine. Ilang araw lang ay nagpositibo ang ina ng lalaking unang naimpeksyon.

Nang isa pang lalaki ang nag-positibo din sa Flat 9B, nagpasya ang mga eksperto na bisitahin ang gusali. 

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Napag-alaman nila na sinasara ng lalaki ang mga bintana ng kanyang bahay dahil inaayos ang labas ng gusali at maalikabok. Dahil gumagamit siya ng exhaust fan tuwing papasok sa toilet ay nahihigop nito ang hangin na may dalang virus mula sa drain na tuyo ng mga flat sa ibaba. Ang nasipsip na hangin na may dalang virus ay kumalat sa buong kabahayan, at siyang nalanghap ng ikatlong pasyente.

Naging kontrobersiyal ang kanyang mungkahi dahil ayon sa mga sumasalungat ay hindi ito kailangan at magsasanhi lang ng hirap sa paghinga ng mga gumagamit, lalo yung mga maysakit.

Ngunit sumang-ayon naman dito si Dr David Hui, isang espesyalista sa respiratory medicine at chairman ng Department of Medicine and Therapeutics ng Chinese University of Hong Kong. 

Makakatulong daw na magsuot ng mask na yari sa tela sa ibabaw ng surgical mask para lumapat nang maayos sa mukha ng gumagamit.

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Karaniwan kasing maluwag ang surgical mask, dagdag ni Dr. Hui, kaya maari itong pasukin ng virus na nasa hangin. 

Noong Jan. 11,inilahad naman ni Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan ng Centre for Health Protection na hindi nakatulong ang pagsusuot ng face mask ng isang flight crew ng Cathay nang bumili ito ng shampoo sa isang dispensary sa H.A.N.D.S..

Kahit naka mask din ang nagtitinda at mga 10 minuto lang sila nag-usap ay napasahan pa din niya ito ng Omicron. 

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Sa tindi ng dala nitong virus ay nalipat ito ng tindero sa asawa niya at dalawang anak na kasama niyang nakatira sa Aegean  Coast sa Tuen Mun. Hindi pa ito nagtapos dito dahil nahawaan naman ng asawa at anak niyang batang lalaki ang isang nurse na tumingin sa kanila sa isang klinika sa Gold Coast.

Ito ang dahilan kung bakit nasabi ni Chuang na malamang na may "silent transmission" ng Covid-19 na nagaganap sa Tuen Mun.

Bukod sa pamilyang nagkahawaan at nanghawa ay may isang babaeng guwardiya sa Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre na nakatira rin sa distrito ang nakitaan din ng virus.

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Inutusan ang lahat ng mga nakatira sa Tuen Mun na magpa test agad para mapigilan ang maaring pagdami pa ng mga kaso doon.

Para sa dagdag proteksyon, hindi naman din masama kung susubukan ng ilan sa kanila na magsuot ng dobleng mask, lalo at sigurado na ang mga eksperto na ang Omicron variant ay maaring makuha sa hangin.

High Court ends 18-year bid by migrant worker for permanent residency

By Daisy CL Mandap 

The High Court put an end to the first case for FDW residency filed in Sept 2003

The High Court has finally closed the door on the last remaining challenge to the Immigration Director’s decision to stop foreign domestic workers from acquiring permanent residency in Hong Kong.

In a written judgment handed down on Wednesday, Jan 12, Judge Russell Coleman cited the failure for Filipina former domestic worker Julita F. Raza to pursue a case she filed as long ago as Sept 25, 2003 for his decision to dismiss the case.

Judge Coleman also pointed out that the issues raised by Raza were rendered moot by the 2013 Court of Appeal ruling in the case of Vallejos v Commissioner of Registration that foreign domestic helpers cannot acquire permanent residency.

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Raza first gained prominence when she filed, along with four veteran Filipina migrant workers, a challenge to the Hong Kong government’s decision in February 2003 to cut the salary of FDWs by $400 and impose a levy on their employers in the same amount. That bid was also thrown by the Court of Appeal in July 2016.

In a subsequent case filed in the same year, Raza sought leave from the court to apply for a judicial review of the Immigration Director’s refusal to verify that she was entitled to a permanent identity card.

Raza wanted to challenge the Director’s decision that she could not be treated as ordinarily resident in Hong Kong, meaning she needed only to live in the city for at least seven years to qualify; and that she had not taken Hong Kong as her place of permanent residence.

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In what was then hailed as a landmark decision, Judge Michael Hartmann ruled on Sept 26, 2003 that Raza, who had by then worked in Hong Kong for more than eight years, could apply for a judicial review of the Director’s decision.

However, during arguments on May 17, 2014, the judge ordered that the application for judicial review be adjourned sine die (to an unspecified later time) while Raza first exercised her right to appeal her case to the Registration of Persons Tribunal.

On the same day, Raza applied for a Hong Kong permanent identity card but was refused. As a result, she filed an appeal to Tribunal on May 21, 2004. This appeal was dismissed by the Tribunal on Jan 6, 2006.

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Since then, Raza had taken no action to revive her application for judicial review.

Records kept by the Immigration Department showed she left Hong Kong on Mar 30, 2006 and never came back to live here for work or any other reason. After that she came to visit on 11 different occasions but ceased coming back after Sept 20, 2017.

Since 2006, when the Tribunal declined her appeal against the Director’s decision not to allow her to acquire a permanent HK ID card she made no effort to restore the application for judicial review, despite visiting a couple of times.

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She also no longer had solicitors representing her as a Legal Aid Certificate granted in her case expired on Dec 14, 2006.

Using these as grounds, the Director, through government counsel Gilbert Mok, asked the court to stop serving summons to Raza and for her application for judicial review to be dismissed for want of prosecution and lack of utility.

Mok argued that there had been an unreasonable and inexcusable delay on Raza’s part to restore her case. She left three months after her appeal was dismissed almost 16 years ago, and made no effort to pursue her case even though she made a couple of visits afterwards.

In addition, Raza was no longer represented in the proceeding. Her last known address in Hong Kong was no longer valid, as it was the home of her last employer, while the Philippine address she supplied to court was not complete as it only named a particular municipality in a province

Judge Coleman said he accepted the arguments, adding that “the applicant clearly has no continuing intention to prosecute these proceedings.”

“In my view, the delay is both inordinate and inexcusable, and in the overall context – which includes the point as to lack of utility – these proceedings can, at least at this point in time, be seen to be an abuse,” he added.

Equally important, the judge said the case had to be dismissed because the Court of Appeal ruling in the Vallejos case denying residency to FDWs had become final and executory.

That decision meant that the ground on which Judge Hartmann had initially granted leave to challenge the Director’s decision, “no longer holds good,” said the judge.

He ordered costs to be paid to the respondent Director by the applicant, whose own costs in turn will be taxed in accordance with Legal Aid Regulations.

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North Pt block evacuated after 3 residents test positive for Covid-19

By Daisy CL Mandap 

14 flats in Maple Garden Phase 3 were taken to a quarantine centre this evening

Dozens of residents of a North Point building were evacuated tonight, Jan 12, amid fears of a vertical transmission of Covid-19 after three people living in flats facing the same direction have been found infected.

Residents in 14 households of block B, Maple Gardens Phase Three on Kin Wah street in North Point were picked up by health staff in full PPE just before 6pm and herded onto mini buses with a number of police officers keeping media people and other onlookers at bay.

They were taken to a government quarantine centre where they will stay for 14 days and tested regularly to ensure they were not infected. If they test positive, they will be transferred to a hospital.

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A 48-year-old man who lives in the building and worked at investment bank Citic Securities in nearby Olympia Plaza was on Tuesday confirmed as infected, triggering an overnight lockdown of the block.

However, no one was found infected during the lockdown which ended on Wednesday morning, where a total of 103 people, including 75 residents, were tested.

Today’s two preliminary positive cases were not among those tested, his 83-year-old mother and 32-year-old male neighbor

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The infected man’s mother was taken to a quarantine center after he was listed as a close contact of an infected colleague. She lives in flat 6B of the housing block.

The second patient who is a carpenter, went to Queen Mary Hospital for a check-up after developing symptoms on Sunday. He lives in flat 9B, three floors above the mother and son.

Both patients were vaccinated but were found to carry a heavy viral load.

A scaffolding covers the block, which could allow the virus to build up inside

Health experts visited the building on Wednesday morning after noting that the two preliminary positive cases live in flats that were on separate floors but faced the same direction.

After inspecting the building, microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung said, “We agree that there was a vertical transmission from flats 6B to 9B.”

“The owner of unit 9B never poured water into the floor drain in his bathroom, and so the U-trap dried out.”

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Yuen said virus-infected air from the lower floors could go up the building via the so-called chimney effect, and enter flats where the U-trap has dried out.

He noted that because the building’s external wall was being fixed, the younger man kept his windows closed and turned on the exhaust fan when in the bathroom, allowing air from the dry sewage pipe to easily enter the flat.

Keeping windows shut results in the virus accumulating inside the building, leading to high viral loads, said the expert.

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This is the second incidence of the virus being transmitted vertically in a building since the fifth wave of infections fueled by the highly infectious Omicron variant has swept through Hong Kong in late December.

Vertical transmission also happened in Mei Sun building, officials say

On Sunday, people living in 19 flats in Mei Sun Building in Tai Po, were evacuated for the same reason. A 66-year-old woman who lived five floors above three members of a family who were earlier confirmed to have the coronavirus also tested positive.

At today’s press briefing, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said the full genome sequencing results from the infections showed vertical transmission had indeed occurred in the building.

“So the infection was possibly caused by a traveler from overseas,” she said.

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The first to test positive in the residential block was an Indonesian domestic helper who caught the virus during church services in Tin Hau. Another Indonesian worker who was infected by the mother of a Cathay flight attendant had passed on the coronavirus to her and another worker during the services on Jan 1 and 2.

The unvaccinated 62-year-old woman who was a member of a dance club that met regularly at Victoria Park was found to have directly infected eight other people, and sparked fifth-generation infections.

She was also the link to the first resident at Maple Gardens who was found infected. His colleague had eaten at a restaurant in Tin Hau at the same time as the elderly woman.

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Another import-related cluster was traced to a Cathay male aircrew who had lunch with two family members in a Kowloon Tong restaurant, in violation of his home isolation restrictions.

A total of 46 cases have since been traced from the two air crew who flew in from the United States on Dec 25 and 27, respectively.

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Silent Covid-19 transmission in Tuen Mun feared

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

A dispensary inside this Tuen Mun mall was where a family of 4 picked up the virus

Health officials warned on Tuesday, Jan 11, that a silent transmission of the coronavirus, could be going on in Tuen Mun, with three new cases being detected in the district.

As a result, more testing facilities will be set up in Tuen Mun and all residents there could be asked to be tested for Covid-19 for free.

In today’s press briefing, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said: “We do think that there may be risks of silent transmission in the community that’s why we are arranging increased testing facilities and ask people living and working in the Tuen Mun to get free tests as soon as possible in the coming few days.”

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Chuang said the three patients are among five preliminary positive cases reported today.

Two are members of a family that lives in Aegean Coast and runs a pharmacy at H.A.N.D.S. mall, both in Tuen Mun. The third is a female security guard at Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre who also lives in the district.

The first two are an 11-year-old boy and his 45-year-old mother who were taken to Penny’s Bay after two other members of their family were found infected earlier.

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These are the boy’s 20-year-old sister and their 47-year-old father who both worked in the Tung Ah dispensary where an infected Cathay flight crew had bought shampoo way back on Dec 27.

Chuang said genomic sequencing showed the virus carried by the two were an exact match to that of the flight crew who returned from the United States on Dec 25, and spread the virus during a family lunch at Moon Palace in Kowloon Tong on Dec 27.

On Jan 1 the father in the cluster developed symptoms but did not see a doctor. It was only after his daughter, who also worked parttime at SOGO department store in Causeway Bay, tested preliminary positive on Jan. 9 that the family’s infection was first detected.

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The father is one of 21 additional cases recorded today. Both he and his daughter are unvaccinated.

His wife and son, on the other hand, both had fever on Monday and Wednesday last week (Jan 3 and 5) and visited a private doctor in Gold Coast, but were not tested for Covid-19.

As the doctor only wore a surgical mask during their consultation, she is deemed to be a close contact and will be sent to a quarantine center.

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Chuang reminded private doctors to test anyone who comes to them with a fever, sore throat or other symptoms, as they could have the virus. Those who experience any of these symptoms should also consult a doctor and ask to be tested.

 “It’s understandable because before the end of December, Hong Kong had no local cases for quite a while, so there may be a lack of awareness in the local community including the medical professionals as well as the general public,” she said.

The source of infection of a security guard at Penny's Bay is still unknown

Meanwhile, the source of infection of the guard at Penny’s Bay is still being investigated. Chuang said the case could be linked to other infections in Tuen Mun, or she could have caught it at the quarantine camp.

The patient is said to be responsible for distributing supplies at Penny’s Bay and helping carry people’s luggage.

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Chuang said her colleagues who ate with her would be sent to quarantine.

Another preliminary positive case is that of the male employer of an Indonesian domestic helper linked to the Moon Palace cluster. He is the fourth resident of Mei Sun block in Tai Po to test positive for the coronavirus.

An employer of another infected Indonesian helper was among the newly confirmed cases reported today. The 32-year-old woman lives with the helper in On Ning Garden in Tseung Kwan O.

Another confirmed case is that of a 48-year-old man who lives and works in North Point. He is the fourth infected person linked to his workplace at Citic Securities Company in Olympia Plaza. His residential block, Maple Gardens Phase III on Kin Wah Street, North Point, will be locked down overnight.

In all, the CHP reported 21 cases, including eight local infections. The rest are all imported cases, including three air crew members who came from various countries, and one foreign domestic worker who flew in from Cebu, Philippines on Jan 4.

For details on the confirmed cases, please check the following:  https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/202201/11/P2022011100655_385332_1_1641900538056.pdf

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Kindergartens, primary schools to shut until CNY, ailing businesses to get aid

By The SUN 

Students in kindergartens and primary schools will go back to online classes from Friday

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has announced that all childcare centres, kindergartens and primary schools will have to suspend face to face classes from Friday until the Lunar New Year holidays in the wake of the Omicron spread.

Speaking ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting today, CE Lam reiterated that suspending classes was one of the most difficult decisions to make amid the pandemic because of its adverse effects on the mental and physical health of children.

But she noted that three young children had been infected with Covid-19 recently, two three-year-olds and one four-year-old. Although they caught the virus at home, their teachers and classmates had to be sent to quarantine after being tagged as close contacts.

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“They did not get infected in kindergartens or nurseries, they got it from their family members at home. But before it was found out, they went to school. That’s why the kindergartens and nurseries had to be closed temporarily, and teachers and classmates who were their close contacts were sent to quarantine camps,” said Lam.

This is very undesirable, as we don’t want to see such small children being sent into quarantine,” she said.

Another reason she cited was the experts’ belief that there are silent transmissions of Omicron in the community. Some asymptomatic people may pass the virus unknowingly to children, who in turn, could spread it in their schools.

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The CE also noted that some schools had outbreaks of upper respiratory tract infections, and since the symptoms are similar to a Covid infection, it's difficult to tell the difference.

Delaying the implementation to Friday will give the affected schools time to prepare, said Lam. But they  should be a able to do so from tomorrow if they can do it.

She also said students in upper classes will continue having face-to-face classes because they are old enough to take care of themselves.

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The top official also said the scientific committee advising the government on its pandemic policy has agreed to allow children aged between 3 to 17 to receive Sinovac jabs, but later on decided to give priority to those aged 12 years old and above.

When classes resume after the holidays, she said children between five and 11 will be offered Sinovac jabs at schools. This will be carried out by outreach teams at a date that has yet to be determined.

“But the policy is we want to vaccinate children,” she said.

CE Lam says a new round of subsidy for affected businesses will be announced on Friday

On Friday, Lam said details of another round of subsidies for businesses affected by the new Covid-19 outbreak will be announced.

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She mentioned restaurants and travel agencies as among those that would benefit from the fourth round of government subsidy for businesses hard-hit by a new round of closures that took effect on Friday.

She said there was still $4 billion left in the fund, and the government could ask the legislature for more if needed.

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Various groups welcomed the move, but the legislator representing the catering sector said it would be better to allow the regulated venues to continue to operate, as there has been no mass outbreak from any of them.

Tommy Cheung said allowing restaurants and bars to continue operating at normal hours would be a bigger help than just granting them subsidy.

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