HK reports 13 new Covid-19 cases, 10 of them imported

By Vir B. Lumicao 

8 of the 10 new imported cases carried the highly infections coronavirus variant

Thirteen new coronavirus infections were reported in Hong Kong today, Apr. 13. Ten of them are imported cases, with all but two carrying the highly infectious N501Y variant, Hong Kong health officials said.

 The variant carriers included two Filipina domestic workers who tested positive on their 12^th day in hotel quarantine.

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Of the three local cases, one had an untraceable infection source, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said in a press briefing.

Among the imported cases, only two Indonesian domestic workers aged 39 and 31 who arrived on Apr 11 on a Garuda GR 980 flight from Jakarta did not have the coronavirus variant, Chuang said.

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The CHP official said the Filipinas, aged 43 and 45, both arrived on a Cathay Pacific CX906 flight on Mar 31. They tested positive on their second test, and were later also found to have the mutated version of the disease.

The other recent arrivals found to have the variant strain were four returnees from Pakistan, one from India, and another from Japan.

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There are now 210 cases with the mutated virus that have been detected in Hong Kong, of which 79 are British variants, 22 South African variants, and the rest unclassified.

Chuang said today’s local cases were a 55-year-old housewife who lives in Block 2, Lido Garden, Sham Tseng. She visited various locations in Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun before falling ill.

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Two family members were also infected, so the rest of her household were quarantined.

The infected woman visited many places during the incubation period, including this market in Tsuen Wan

The woman went to Yeung Uk Road Market and Citywalk in Tsuen Wan during Ching Ming Festival. Then she ate at Pastaholic on the second floor of The Trend Plaza North Wing in Tuen Mun. She also visited the Toys R Us and Uniqlo shops on the second floor of Tuen Mun Town Plaza.

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The woman also went grave-sweeping in Tseung Kwan O with eight family members on Apr 3, but Chuang said other people who were there at the same time need not worry about having caught the virus if they paid attention to personal hygiene.

“I do not think grave-sweeping itself will pose risks to the spread of Covid, if people put on masks,” she said, noting that if some grave-sweepers take off their masks and share food after sweeping, they may pose risks to others nearby.

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The latest cases comprising four men and nine women aged 12 to 55 years old took to 11,608 the total tally of infected patients in Hong Kong.

As of 9am today, 130 confirmed patients are being treated in 20 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, the Hospital Authority said. Seven patients are in critical condition, two are serious and the remaining 121 patients stable.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Meanwhile, a second shipment of about 300,000 doses of the BioNTech vaccine arrived in Hong Kong from Germany today.

The shipment was subjected to stringent checking and inspection by staff to ensure that it complies with the product specifications and the transportation follows the cold-chain requirements.

The government will put the vaccine in ultra-low temperature freezers in compliance with storage requirements specified by the drug manufacturer.

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Employer insists Filipina helper she falsely accused of theft must pay her

By Vir B. Lumicao

 

After being arrested for a crime she did not commit, Narcelles is now being asked to pay up 

After accusing her former helper as a fake, a wealthy Hong Kong employer again derailed the worker’s claim today, Apr 12, by insisting she must pay her a month’s salary for provoking her to terminate their contract.

Chua Eh-fong appeared before Presiding Officer W.U. Pun to say the issue she raised about claimant Liverty Narcelles’ identity the previous hearing had been settled by the police.

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When Pun moved on to the helper’s claims, Chua agreed to pay arrears in wages for six days, meal allowance and air ticket. But she said she had already bought a ticket for Narcelles that the claimant didn’t use.

“That doesn’t matter. Under the contract, the employer must pay for the worker’s air ticket,” Pun cut her down.

But Chua brought up the theft case against Narcelles, as she did in the first hearing.

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“The fact that she has been acquitted shows she was not guilty. So, how can you say she stole from you? She’s been tried and been acquitted,” Pun emphasized.

Chua backed down and agreed to buy another ticket, as the first was non-refundable. But Narcelles said she chose cash because she wasn’t sure about when to fly home.

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The employer insisted on a ticket, saying that she had asked the Immigration Department and was advised that she could give the worker a ticket or cash. Besides, she said she had bought the helper a return ticket previously but she didn’t use it.

Pun said in the tribunal everything is settled in cash. As for the ticket, “it was because of your action that she didn’t enjoy the ticket,” he told Chua.

Narcelles told the Tribunal she gave a month's notice but her employer told her to go

Chua and Narcelles disagreed on who initiated the termination. The employer said she was claiming wages in lieu of notice because it was the Filipina who asked to leave her job right away.'

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“I gave her one month’s notice but she left immediately,” Chua said. “She provoked me to fire her.”

Narcelles said she gave Chua a month’s notice, but that evening the employer told her to go. And when she started packing her things, the employer told her to just pack her luggage so she could check it before she left around 10am the next day.'

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Pun asked Narcelles if she was ready to give up the one month’s wage claim as Chua had already agreed to settle the first three items.

Pun suggested the two parties talked outside the courtroom and go for a settlement, telling them a trial would waste their time and resources on such a small amount.

Narcelles replied she would accept Pun’s suggestion if Chua dropped her counter-claim. But Chua demanded Narcelles to pay her one month’s salary so she’d pull her claim.

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Seeing the deadlock, Pun instructed Chua to write a statement about her claim against the helper and sign it, then post it by registered mail to the Tribunal before May 3.

He also directed Narcelles to post to the Tribunal also by registered mail a signed reply to Chua’s statement before May 31.

Then he adjourned the case until Dec 1. 

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CE Lam bares plan to ease restrictions for vaccinated people

By Daisy CL Mandap 

CE Lam says vaccinated people can eat, travel more freely

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has unveiled plans to boost incentives for residents who get vaccinated, including dining together in bigger numbers, and reducing the quarantine period to 14 days or even 7, if they travel to medium or low-risk places.

But speaking at a news conference this afternoon along with her key officials, Lam said these are still plans that would be finalized after consultation with various industries.

Until then, she said current social distancing restrictions would be extended for another two weeks, or until Apr 28 at the earliest.

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As an example of a vaccine incentive, Lam said that if all the staff in a restaurant have had at least one vaccine jab and the customers use the Leave Home Safe app, up to six people may be seated at a table, and the dining hours extended from 10 pm to midnight.

If staff members have completed two doses of the vaccine plus an additional wait of 14 days, then an exclusive zone can be carved within the restaurant where the dining limit can be increased to eight per table.

For banquets, up to 100 people may be accommodated, and the dining hours extended until 2 am.

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If everyone in the restaurant had been vaccinated, then up to 10 people may be allowed to sit together in one table, Lam said. 

Lam said up 10 fully vaccinated people may soon be able to dine together in restaurants

“So if you have been vaccinated and all the staff in the restaurant have been vaccinated, then they can enjoy the relaxed measures in terms of the number of customers per table and the operating hours,” she said.

“We do not need to wait until everybody or a certain percentage of Hong Kong people have been vaccinated.”

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Lam said that the incentive could be extended to high-risk places that remain shut, such as bars, karaoke bars and party rooms, if their staff get vaccinated.

“If their staff get vaccinated and their customers use the LeaveHomeSafe app, they can resume business in a limited way,” she said.

Lam added that in future, the government will refrain from taking a “stop and go approach” to shutting down premises, meaning if an infection is found in one bar, for example, a closure order will not be issued on all similar venues.

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In the meantime, the Chief Executive said “We will be making an exception and we will be releasing an additional subsidy to them.” She said $400 million in subsidies will be disbursed to people in the industry.

Lam suggested other areas where a relaxation of restrictions could be enforced are public masses in churches, where the 30% capacity limit may be expanded; and allowing vaccinated people to visit patients in hospitals and care homes residents

Lam said that the uptake for the vaccine has “not been very high”, with only about 578,000 people having received a single dose, and 255,900 completing the two doses.

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As the government has no plans to make vaccination mandatory, she said the best way to entice more people to get the jab is to provide incentives.

She said that people arriving from the three designated low-risk countries – Singapore, Australia and New Zealand – have been allowed to undergo hotel quarantine for only 14 days since Apr 9, instead of the 21 days required of other new arrivals.

But when fully vaccinated, travelers from these countries may even be allowed to spend only seven days in quarantine, she said.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

 

For those coming from medium-risk places, they could have their quarantine reduced from 21 days to 14 days, “or even shorter” if they have completed the requirements for full inoculation.

In addition, the Chief Executive also said that by mid-May:

-        flights from the United Kingdom will be allowed to resume, and all returnees can book their own hotel for the mandatory 21-day quarantine

-        all visitors from the Mainland will be able to enter Hong Kong without undergoing quarantine after testing negative in a rapid test at the land borders or the airport.

Chan says HK has managed to stop the coronavirus variant spreading in the community

Addressing concerns about the significant increase in the number of travelers arriving in Hong Kong with the highly infectious N501Y variant of the coronavirus, Dr Sophia Chan said government measures have been effective in preventing the strain spreading in the community.

Chan said that for the month of March, 150 imported cases were reported, and of these, 101 had the mutated virus.

She did not name any specific place from where the dreaded variant had mostly come from, saying it is currently spreading in many parts of the world.

Apart from the strict 21-day hotel quarantine imposed on new arrivals, especially from places considered as high-risk, she said Hong Kong has put in place as “circuit breaker for airlines.”

“If there is a certain number of cases (detected) on their arrival in Hong Kong, the route will be banned,” Chan said.

Since July last year, the government has invoked the right to ban airlines flying in with infected travelers 24 times, said Chan.

Meanwhile, of the 13 new Covid-19 infections reported today, only two were locally acquired, and both are linked to previous infections.

The 11 imported cases involved five passengers from India, three from Pakistan, two from Indonesia, and one from the Philippines.

Two of them had the N501Y variant, and both arrived on Apr 10. One is a foreign domestic helper who flew in aboard Cathay Pacific flight CX 906 from Manila, and a returning resident from Pakistan who came via Emirates flight EK 384 from Islamabad.

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Filipino resident jailed nearly 4 years for rape

By Vir B. Lumicao

High Court judge says defendant's failure to use condom made the rape worse 

A Hong Kong-born Filipino man who has pleaded guilty to raping a relative of his sister-in-law in January last year in Lantau was sentenced today, Apr 12, in the High Court to 3 years and 10 months in jail.

Mark Angelo Roxas was sentenced by Court of First Instance Judge Douglas Yau who  had postponed sentencing until a psychologist’s report on the defendant was submitted to him.

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The report said the defendant might have misread the victim’s replies to his suggestion of making love with her as giving consent to his wishes.

In sentencing, Yau pointed out that the offense happened inside the flat of the victim, a Filipina resident. Roxas, an invited guest, had assaulted the victim, identified only as “X,” while she was asleep, and didn’t even bother to wear a condom to protect the victim.

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For the rape, Yau applied the minimum sentence of 5 years but added 9 months for Roxas not wearing a condom during the attack. After giving a discount for the defendant’s guilty plea, the judge came up with 3 years and 10 months.

But as Roxas had been detained since his arrest on Jan 30 last year, he has now served over a year, and will remain in jail for the remaining part of his sentence.

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The victim was identified in court as a cousin of the wife of Roxas’ elder brother, and the two had known each other for some time.

The court was told Roxas was born in Hong Kong to a Filipino permanent resident. He had moved to Macau for work but had visited Hong Kong to spend the Christmas holiday with his father and sibling.

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The incident happened on Jan 30 after the victim invited her friends and family to her flat in Tung Chung for drinks after they had all gathered for a barbecue.

At 2:30am, X excused herself from the party and went to her bedroom to sleep but left the door unlocked. She awoke around 5am when she sensed someone was thrusting something in her genitals, and found the defendant lying behind her in bed.

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X said Roxas penetrated her about 10 times and, when he was done, rose naked from the waist down and left the room. She followed him to the living room and hit his head with a frying pan.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Roxas escaped and went to the hospital to have his head injury treated, telling staff he had an accident. But by then, his brother had already called the police, who tracked the defendant down and arrested him.

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‘NCR Plus 4’ down to MECQ, as Covid-19 cases near 865k

By The SUN

Despite the lockdown, thousands lined up for 'ayuda' or financial assistance

The Philippines government will ease the quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) and four adjacent provinces starting tomorrow, Monday.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque announced today, Apr 11, that the five areas will be placed under the less stringent modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), citing as one of the reasons the pledge of hospitals to increase beds for Covid-19 cases.

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His announcement came as the Department of Health reported another spike in the number of new coronavirus cases. Sunday’s 11,681 new cases pushed the country’s overall tally to 864,868. Of the total tally, 145,519 cases remain active, or 16.9% of the total.

But with the economy coming at a virtual standstill for the past 14 days because of the lockdown under the previous enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) arrangement, businesses had been calling for a resumption of activities.

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According to Roque, the move to MECQ was approved by President Rodrigo Duterte at the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Covid-19 response.

But he said the details of the new quarantine arrangement will be known only during his regular press briefing on Monday.

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At least one notable change has been reported, though, which was the shortening of the curfew hours in Metro Manila from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Previously, the curfew was from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The change was announced in a statement by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which said the shortened curfew hours will last from Apr 12 to 30.

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No similar announcement was made for the four provinces that will move to MECQ along with Metro Manila.

The curfew in Metro Manila will be shortened by 2 hours

Roque said the MECQ will also be enforced in Abra and the city of Santiago in Quirino province.

Meanwhile, the following areas will be placed under general community quarantine (GCQ), which is a degree lower in severity than MECQ:

-Cordillera Administrative Region

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-Batangas province

-Tacloban City

-Iligan City

-Davao City

-Lanao del Sur province

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-Quezon province

The rest of the country will be placed under modified GCQ.

ECQ was imposed on the so-called NCR Plus bubble on Mar 29 in the wage of a surge in Covid-19 cases in the area.

Originally intended to last for only seven days over the long Holy Week break, the order was extended for another week as record numbers of infections were being reported each day.

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HK posts 2 local, 11 imported Covid-19 cases

By Vir B. Lumicao

There are now 6 confirmed cases in Oi Fai House

Health officials today, Apr 11, confirmed 13 new coronavirus patients, two of whom are local cases linked to an outbreak in a public housing estate in Tuen Mun. Of the 11 imported cases, five carried the dreaded N501Y variant.

The Centre for Health Protection said the two local cases, a 71-year-old male retiree and a 63-year-old housewife, were relatives who live in Unit 32, Block 3, Oi Fai House in You Oi Estate in Tuen Mun. The two were earlier classified as preliminary positive.

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The man developed a sore throat and fever on Apr 7 while the woman was asymptomatic. They brought to six the number of total infections from the housing block, which has been partially evacuated amid fears of environmental contamination.

The additional confirmed cases took the total tally in Hong Kong to 11,582.

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CHP said there were more than 10 preliminary positive cases.

In the past 14 days, a total of 123 new cases were recorded. Twenty-five of these were local cases, of which 10 were of unknown origin.

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Four of the five imported cases found to have the highly infectious coronavirus strain were two men aged 64 and 74 from Pakistan, and two men aged 28 and 41 from India, a CHP staff said.

She said the fifth patient with the variant was a man aged 25 Bangladesh who arrived on Mar 29 and tested positive on his 12^th day of hotel quarantine.

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Among the new cases were two female domestic workers, an Indonesian aged 38 and an Indian aged 26, who both arrived last Friday, the spokeswoman said.

Two Indian patients in today's list flew via Vistara's suspended flight, UK6395

The other imported cases involved an Indonesian man aged 79 who arrived from Surabaya and two Indian men aged 37 and 29 who arrived from New Delhi on Apr 4 via Vistara SIA Flight UK6395.

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They developed symptoms on Apr 10 while in quarantine at Ramada Hong Kong Grandview Hotel in North Point.

The airline has already been suspended from flying to Hong Kong until Apr 19 after five of its passengers in a single flight had tested positive upon arrival.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Air India, which had been banned at least six times in the past for the same reason, flew today’s four other infected passengers from New Delhi, including the two with N501Y variant.

The Hospital Authority said a total of 125 confirmed patients are now being treated in 21 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre. Seven of the patients are in critical condition, three are serious and the remaining 115 stable, the HA said.

Meanwhile, Prof David Hui from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, again urged the administration not to relax social distancing measures yet.

Hui, who is also a government adviser on the Covid-19 strategy, said that despite the drop in number of new cases in recent days, it is too early to ease anti-epidemic measures further, like capping the number of diners to four per table in restaurants.

He warned that any resurgence could dash Hong Kong’s hopes of resuming travel with the mainland and other places.

“We are only seeing sporadic cases, but unfortunately sometimes the cases are of unknown source, and this reflects there are still cases causing community transmission. So, at this stage I think it would be very difficult to relax all the social distancing measures,” he said.

“I think the government is keen to develop travel bubbles and also open the border between Hong Kong and China, so, if you relax the social distancing measures at this stage, it may lead to a rebound, so I think the government needs to be more cautious,” he said.

Hui supported the government’s decision to shelve plans to procure a third vaccine, saying Hong Kong has sufficient Sinovac and BioNTech jabs in store to inoculate the entire population. 

The government can reserve the money for second-generation vaccines with a higher efficacy against mutated virus strains, he said.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan has earlier said the government will postpone shipments of AstraZeneca vaccines, the third brand being procured by Hong Kong, amid concerns that it is causing blood clots, particularly among women.

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