3 UK returnees, 2 Indo DHs among 70 new Covid-19 cases

 By The SUN 

The 3 from UK had stayed in Dubai for a month before flying on to HK where they tested positive

Three people from Britain who had stayed in Dubai for a month before flying on to Hong Kong as well as two Indonesian domestic helpers who developed symptoms while in quarantine were among 70 new coronavirus cases reported today, Jan. 21.

One of the Indonesians, a 25-year-old who was spending her quarantine in Ramada Harbour View in Sai Ying Pun, experienced symptoms on Jan 11, but was found infected only after a second test.

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The other, who is 21 years old, developed symptoms only on Jan 19, shortly after arriving from Jakarta. But she was had already moved to Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon when she tested positive.

The three passengers who had originally flown out of Britain to Dubai, tested positive on their arrival in Hong Kong on board a connecting flight from Singapore.

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Two of them, both males aged 33 and 63, had symptoms, while the other, a 63-year-old female, was asymptomatic.

Starting on Dec 22, Hong Kong had banned travelers who had been in Britain in the past 21 days, after a highly infectious strain of the coronavirus was found in the country.

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The five were among seven imported cases reported today. The two others were both returnees who tested positive at the airport. One was a 30-year-old man who came from Malaysia and the other was a 22-year-old woman from Nepal.

Most of the Kowloon buildings where infections were detected are old and ill maintained 

Of the 63 local cases, 31 were from the virus-plagued districts of Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok districts. Twenty of the cases were detected at the Yau Ma Tei community testing centre.

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More than 40 preliminary positive cases were also recorded.

Among them was an 80-year-old man living in a care home on Battery Street in Yau Ma Tei who could walk about but never went outside. Health officials are checking the source of his infection. Meantime, 21 residents and staff have been identified as close contacts and would be sent for quarantine.

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Mandatory tests were ordered for residents of two more buildings in the designated area in YauTsimMong. One is 121 Woosung Street and the other is 7-10 Ferry Street.

Compulsory testing will also be issued for those living in Tak Yam House in Laguna City Block 5, and Prosperous Garden Block 2 in Yau Ma Tei.

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Meanwhile, Dr Linda Yu, chief manager of the Hospital Authority, appealed to medical workers to avoid sharing meals after two nurses at different hospitals tested preliminary positive for Covid-19.

“Chinese New Year is coming and we want to appeal again for our staff and also the public to refrain from social gatherings,” she said.

One of the nurses who works in Queen Elizabeth Hospital tested preliminary positive after eating with an infected colleague from North District Hospital. She also had meals with five other nurses and a staff at Queen Elizabeth.

Another nurse in Princess Margaret Hospital tested preliminary positive after having a meal with a colleague, although there was a partition between them.

Meanwhile, a confirmed patient passed away in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll in public hospitals from the virus to 163.

A total of 695 patients are currently being treated in 24 public hospitals and the treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo. Among them, 37 are in critical condition, 30 are serious, while the remaining 628 are in stable condition.

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CHP experts give first priority for Covid-19 vaccines to those in care homes

By The SUN 

Residents and staff in care homes such as this one will get the first jabs

Experts under the Centre for Health Protection have put residents and staff of care homes for the elderly and people with disabilities at the top of the list for getting the Covid-19 vaccine in Hong Kong.

Next in line are medical workers or those in essential services that are at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus, and residents aged 60 years and above.

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On third priority are persons with chronic medical problems aged between 16 and 59 years.

No mention was made of other residents not in the designated categories in a statement published today, Jan 21, in the government’s website.

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Experts from two CHP committees, along with a panel advising the government on its coronavirus response, say there will not be enough vaccines to protect all of the city’s 7.5 million residents in the first stage of the inoculation program. Thus, they said the best approach is to protect the most vulnerable initially.

The government has procured 22.5 million doses of three different vaccines, and had intended to start the inoculation by this month.

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However, the vaccine from Sinovac, which was initially expected to arrive later this month, has yet to be cleared for use as it has reportedly failed to submit enough data to the government.

The BioNTech and AstaZeneca vaccines will be given first

The government statement said the expert recommendations focused only on two vaccines: BioNTech provided by Fosun Pharma, and Astra Zeneca.

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Both vaccines should be taken in two doses each, and the same type of vaccine should be given to each individual.

The free and voluntary inoculation is reported to be on track to start after the Lunar New Year.

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The experts said vaccination is just one of the tools for ensuring people’s safety during the pandemic. Thus, everyone must continue good personal hygiene, maintain social distancing, and wear masks at all times in public places.

The Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases under CHP published their interim recommendations after their joint meeting on Jan 7 on protocols for the use of Covid-19 vaccines.

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Details on the scientific evidence used and the reasons for the recommendations may be found on the CHP website (www.chp.gov.hk/en/static/24008.html).

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Woman who fell off flat in Ma On Shan not FDH, says police

By Daisy CL Mandap 

A photo of rescuers attending to the victim shared on Facebook by a neighbor

A woman who fell from a flat in Ma On Shan earlier today, Jan 21, is a local Chinese and not a foreign domestic worker, says Hong Kong Police. Neither was she cleaning windows.

A police spokeswoman said the victim who was certified dead at Princess Margaret Hospital at 9:31 this morning was a 36-year-old local Chinese surnamed Wong, who was suffering from a mental illness.

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The management of the building at Double Cove on Wu Kai Sha Road reportedly called the police after seeing the woman lying unconscious on the ground. She was rushed to hospital where she was certified dead.

No suicide note was found at the scene.

Police say the earlier report they received about the victim being FDH was wrong 

Earlier reports from various media organizations and residents of the estate who shared photos from the scene, said the woman was a foreign domestic worker who fell while cleaning windows in a flat on Tower 5 of Double Cove.

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The story immediately spread, as it came exactly a week after an Indonesian domestic worker fell from a building on Tin Hau Temple Road in North Point. Police confirmed the accident happened while the helper was cleaning windows.

Dangerous window-cleaning is a prohibited act under the standard employment contract of all foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong.

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All FDHs who were signed up to work in Hong Kong from Jan 1, 2017, could not be asked to clean any window above the ground unless it is fitted with a locked grille, and no part of their body except for the arms should extend outside.

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77 new Covid-19 infections recorded, all local

By The SUN 

 Sham Shui Po was recently added to list of districts targeted for compulsory tests

The number of Covid-19 cases in infection-plagued Kowloon districts has continued to climb, with 41 new cases recorded today, Jan 20.

The cases in the Yau Tsim Mong (Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok) districts made up more than half of the 77 new infections, all local, reported by health officials in their daily press briefing today.

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Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said it could take up to two weeks to see the full impact of the compulsory testing ordered for tens of thousands of residents in affected districts.

"Because of the quite long incubation period of Covid-19, any control measures... you will see the results in maybe one or two weeks’ time if the intervention is useful,” said Chuang.

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She announced that residents in eight more buildings, in Yau Ma Tei, Jordan, Sham Shui Po and in Kornhill, Quarry Bay will be ordered to get tested after at least two cases were reported from their buildings.

Chuang said 37 of the new cases were untraceable, including 23 who live in Yau Ma Tei.

More than 60 preliminary positive cases were also recorded.

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Among the preliminary cases were four found at at the community testing station in Sham Shui Po, which was added on Monday to the list of districts targeted for mandatory testing.

Also among the preliminary cases was a nurse who works at the isolation ward of North District Hospital. According to Dr Linda Yu from the Hospital Authority, the nurse wore protective gear while taking care of coronavirus patients.

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Five nurses who had a meal with her will be put under quarantine.

Yu said that two patients passed away in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll in public hospitals to 162.

As of 9am today, 659 confirmed patients were being treated in 24 public hospitals and the treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo. Among them, 39 are in critical condition, 30 are serious, and the remaining 590 are in stable condition.

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DH faces child porn charge for sending ward’s bathing photos to husband

By Vir B. Lumicao    

The Filipina helper was arrested by Tseung Kwan O police

A 34-year-old Filipina domestic helper was arrested by Tseung Kwan O police and charged with child pornography on Jan 15 for sharing with her husband photos of her 4-year-old girl ward taking a shower and sitting on the toilet bowl.

The helper, Leng Leng (not her real name), was released on bail after giving a statement to investigators and was told to report back to the police station late this month, a police spokeswoman said today, Jan 20.

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The helper said her reporting day is Jan 30. She told The SUN she is sharing her story to warn her fellow domestic workers not to make the same mistake.

Leng Leng’s case was posted by the Facebook group Domestic Workers Corner on Monday, Jan 18., with a warning to its members to beware of posting their wards’ photos on social media as it could cause them serious trouble.

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Leng Leng sought help to find a shelter and appeal for financial and material aid after she was fired when her employer found out about the photos and reported the matter to the police.

Many employers forbid their helpers from posting photos of their children or even their house interiors on social media for privacy reasons. But taking pictures of nude children is a grave criminal offense, which becomes even more serious when the pictures are shared.

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In her defense, the helper said she only sent the picture to her husband once, when he got very mad because she wasn’t answering his call. The photo was meant to show him she was busy giving the girl a bath in her employer’s flat in Serenity Place, Tseung Kwan O.

The rest of the photos, which she admitted sending to her husband much earlier, showed the girl sitting on the toilet bowl, Leng Leng said.

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She was at a loss thinking how the pictures reached her employers. When she asked her husband if he had shared the pictures with others, the man reportedly said no.

She said that when she was confronted by the employer, she asked them where they got the pictures.

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“May nagsend daw po sa kanila, di rin daw nila alam sinong tao na iyon. Nagtataka naman ako kung bakit nakuha nila ang account ng amo ko, ako nga di ko alam ang account niya,” the helper said.

(Somebody sent them the photos, my employer said. I’m wondering how they found my employer’s account when I don’t even know her account)

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Leng Leng said she was afraid of going to jail. “Makukulong po ba ako? Wala naman po kasi akong masamang intention sa bata,” she said. (Will I be jailed? I had no bad intention against the child).

She suspected that a friend of hers to whom she also sent the photos months ago must have forwarded them to her employer.

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“Kaibigan ko po nagpahamak sa akin, wala nman po ako kaaway. Siguro nainggit po siya kasi madami binibigay ang amo ko sa akin. Yun lang po nakita kong dahilan para gawin niya yun (A friend of mine did me in, I have no enemies,” she says. (Perhaps, she is jealous because my employer has been giving me many things. That’s the only reason I can see).

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Asked why she thought so, Leng Leng said: “Tapos nakalagay dun sa pic ng bata, ‘You terminate [her] as soon as possible.”(On the photo of the child, it says, terminate her as soon as possible.)

The helper said she has two children, a boy aged 14 and a girl aged 7. She said she was due to complete her two-year contract on Mar 4, but now she is jobless and in big trouble. 

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