HK’s new flight restrictions could stop arrivals from Manila

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

Cathay's flight from Manila was banned last month for flying in 5 infected passsengers

Hong Kong’s new flight restrictions that take effect today could potentially shut down all arrivals from the Philippines for at least two weeks, given the number of passengers from there that test positive not just for Covid-19, but also for the highly infectious coronavirus variant.

Most ominous for travelers from Manila is the new rule that says that if 5 or more passengers with the N501Y strain are confirmed on arrival in Hong Kong “on any flight(s) originating from a specific country within a 7-day period, all flights from all airlines departing that specific country will be prohibited from landing in Hong Kong for 14 days.”

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This means the two-week suspension will be imposed on all airlines that fly out of Manila, if within seven days, a cumulative number of at least five passengers from there are found to have the N501Y variant on their arrival in Hong Kong, regardless of which flight they took.

In the past week, a total of 16 passengers from Manila had tested positive for Covid-19, and all had the mutated form of the virus. Luckily, only three were found infected on arrival, which would not have triggered the ban. All the rest tested positive for the coronavirus and the variant on their second test while in hotel quarantine.

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Another potential cause would be the tightened rule that provides for the two-week ban to be imposed on any airline that carried two or more infected passengers on any two flights from the same destination, within a seven-day period.

A third regulation that could apply is one that bans any flight route if at least three passengers on board test positive for Covid-19 on arrival in Hong Kong.

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Both rules apply even if the infected passengers do not carry the variant.

Before this, the ban was triggered only if at least three infected passengers on two separate but consecutive flights tested positive at the airport, or at least five from the same flight were found infected on arrival.

The ones likely to be hit hard by the new restrictions are Filipino migrant workers

This rule was imposed on Cathay Flight CX 906 on Mar 15 when five of its passengers from Manila were found infected on landing at HK Airport.

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However it was not applied when Cebu Pacific Flight 5J 272 flew in on two occasions recently with at least five passengers on each flight testing positive on their 12^th day in hotel quarantine.

The only rule that remains unchanged is the one that allows the government to impose the same flight suspension if an airline carries one or more passenger who tests positive on arrival, and at least one other who did not comply with set pre-boarding requirements.

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For high-risk countries like the Philippines, these include a negative test result for a Covid-19 test done within 72 hours before the flight, with a certificate issued by a government-approved hospital or laboratory.

The move comes in the wake of calls for all flights to be suspended from the Philippines and other high risk countries like India, Pakistan and Indonesia, or alternatively, to halt the arrivals of all foreign domestic workers, because of a recent surge in the number of imported cases.

Air India has been banned several times under the earlier flight restrictions

Recently, a number of travelers from these countries have been flying in with the coronavirus. However, the mutated form of the virus is rarely seen among recent arrivals from Indonesia.

Air India has been banned no less than six times for flying in at least five passengers who test positive on arrival, while a Vistara flight remains under suspension for flying in two sets of passengers from India who were found infected on arrival.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Yesterday, Emirates flight EK 384 which originated from Dubai and Bangkok was also banned from flying for two weeks after five of its passengers who originated from Pakistan tested positive on arrival on Apr 11.

Meanwhile, six Covid-19 cases were reported today, four of them imported and the two others locally acquired, and linked to previous infections.

Of the four imported cases, only one, a 26-year-old woman from Pakistan who tested positive on arrival at the airport, was found to have the N501Y variant.

The three other imported cases did not carry the mutation, including a 56-year old man from Egypt who tested positive at the airport. The two others were found infected while in hotel quarantine - a 20-year old woman from Pakistan and a 2-year-old baby girl from India.

Both local cases, a 70-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman, live in Oi Fai Estate in Tuen Mun, where a cluster of cases was found recently.

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Oft-forgotten OWWA rule allows family of late OFW leader to get death benefits

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Merly. left, with her best friend and townmate Lorie Pecasis

It may have come nearly three months late, but the cash aid of Php135,000 granted by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to the heirs of the late overseas Filipino leader Merly T. Bunda still came as welcome gesture.

“Thanks a lot, mare-release na ng OWWA ang Php100k plus ang burial at pangkabuhayan para kay Merly,” her sister Neneng Bunda, relayed in a text message Monday, Apr 12.

Neneng was referring to the standard OWWA grants for the family of a deceased member, comprising Php100,00 for funeral; P20,000 for burial; and Php15,000 for livelihood benefits.

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All these may not have been released despite Merly’s death from cancer on Jan 18, had it not been for the direct intervention of OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac.

The day after Merly passed on at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Neneng went to the OWWA office in Hong Kong to seek help, and was dismayed on being told that Merly’s membership had lapsed in August last year.

That was just about the time the 54-year-old OFW was told she had stage 4 uterus cancer, and had to go to about five different hospitals to get tested and retested to confirm the diagnosis.

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Amid this turmoil, Merly all but forgot to renew her OWWA membership, even after her employer agreed to extend their employment contract for three months when it expired in October of the same year.

The lapse was unusual, as Merly, an active community leader and contributor of The SUN and Bombo Radyo Iloilo, had religiously renewed her OWWA membership in the 30 years that she had worked in Hong Kong.

Other members of the Bunda family in Dingle, Iloilo double-checked the information with the OWWA office in their province, and were equally crestfallen when told the same thing.

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They were given Merly’s payment history showing she last paid for her membership on August 12, 2018, meaning it would have covered her only until Aug 11, 2020.

The family, though disappointed, would have opted to let the matter slide, as Merly, who was single, had enough family members who could pitch in for the funeral expenses, including nephews and nieces she had helped send through college.

Bombo Radyo, for which Merly had covered several important events in Hong Kong, including the SARS outbreak in 2003, also helped give her a proper send-off when her remains were finally sent home and laid to rest in March this year.

Merly's 3 brothers at her wake in Dingle. Neneng and another sister were not around

But on learning of the unfortunate event, The SUN sent a message to Administrator Cacdac and asked if there was any way the benefit could still be extended to Merly’s family, considering that she had religiously paid her OWWA membership for three decades.

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It did not feel right that longtime members whose grave illnesses prevented them from renewing their membership could be deprived of benefits, the OWWA chief was told.

Despite not responding directly to the query, Cacdac acted immediately. Soon, welfare officer Virsie Tamayao contacted Neneng to ask if their family had already been to OWWA regional office in Iloilo and what they were told.

In no time, OWWA Iloilo also contacted Merly’s relatives there and said they were being considered for a two-year extended coverage for OFWs with critical illness.

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According to staff at the regional office, this means that members who died from a critical illness could have their membership extended for up to two years so their immediate family members could still be granted benefits.

Tamayao said she did the research for the regional office so they could consider Merly’s next-of-kin for coverage.

“Mukha lang hindi aware ang region,” she said. (It just looked like the regional office was not aware of this).

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Cacdac himself would not take credit for reversing his staff's earlier decision not to give benefits to Merly’s family.

Responding to a message of thanks, he merely replied, “Okay po, we’ll see how else we can help the family.”

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

With this turn of events, Merly could now rest more peacefully, knowing her three decades of support for OWWA and her own record of helping her fellow OFWs in need have been finally vindicated.

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8 hospital infirmaries to allow visits to patients starting Apr 21

By The SUN 

Cheshire Home in Shatin is one of 8 infirmaries that will open to visitors next week

Visitors will be allowed in eight infirmary hospitals in Hong Kong starting next Wednesday, April 21, as the Hospital Authority begins restoring visits in phases amid the easing coronavirus situation.

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The HA said that in the initial phase, each patient will be allowed a one-hour visit by one designated relative every week.

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This designated visitor must present a present a negative Covid-19 nucleic acid test result obtained within 72 hours before the scheduled visit. Regular visitors can choose to undergo weekly testing. For urgent visits, the visitor would be required to provide a test result within two days after the visit.

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Those who have taken two doses of a Covid vaccine for at least 14 days may opt for rapid antigen test done within 24 hours before the visit. Such visitors must buy the rapid test kit and do it at home on their own. 

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They must take a photo of themselves being tested, along with the subsequent negative results and the time and date of the test. The photo, packing and product insert of the rapid antigen test kit and the vaccination record need to be shown together to ward staff for checking before entering the ward.

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Apart from showing negative test results, visitors must also wear surgical masks, have their temperatures checked and fill in health declaration forms which can be done in advance through the Hospital Visit QR code.

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According to a statement from the HA, “Ward staff will begin contacting patients’ families in the next few days for scheduling the visits. The visiting quotas are subject to the actual operation of individual wards. A change of visitor is not allowed within the one-hour session.”

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

The infirmaries included in the initial phase are Cheshire Home in Chung Hom Kok and Wong Chuk Hang Hospital in Hong Kong East, Fung Yiu King Hospital in Hong Kong West, Haven of Hope Hospital, Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital, Lai King Building, Princess Margaret Hospital, Cheshire Home Shatin and Tin Ka Ping Infirmary in Pok Oi Hospital.

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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.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

 

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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