HK halts mandatory vaccination for FDHs

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

CE Lam says the mandatory jabs for FDHs was just a plan (RTHK photo)

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has effectively put a stop to the mandatory vaccination of all 370,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, first announced by her labor secretary on Apr 30.

Speaking before the start of an Executive Council meeting today, May 4, the top official said the government had not actually made up its mind on whether to go ahead with the plan to require all FDHs applying for new work visas to show proof of inoculation.

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She said the plan's justifications and feasibility were still being studied by the Labour and Welfare Bureau. As part of this, consuls general of countries that send FDHs to Hong Kong will be consulted on "whether this could be done, and whether doing it would create many problems."

Her statement came after various groups slammed the order as discriminatory, as it targeted only FDHs.

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 Philippine Consul General Raly Tejada was quick to welcome the announcement.

"We thank CE Lam ang the HK government for their understanding and magnanimity. We stand ready to work and engage with the HK government and other concerned Consulates General in constructive dialogue on this important issue," Congen Tejada said.

"In the meantine, the PCG will continue to encourage our nationals to avail of HK's free and voluntary vaccination program."

The Consulate had earlier said it was not consulted on the mandatory vaccination plan. CG Tejada also questioned why other non-residents who are on employment visas were not subjected to the same order when they have the same residency status as FDHs. 

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The Chief Executive, however, defended the order for all FDHs to undergo testing between May 1 and 9, insisting it was not discriminatory.

“Among four cases of Covid variants that have spread into the community, two involve foreign domestic workers,” she said.

Hundreds of FDHs lined up for hours to get tested on Chater Road on Sunday

“In addition, foreign domestic workers do have a habit of attending gatherings at weekends, and their work involves close contact with and taking care of young children and elderly people, so proper measures have to be taken considering our risk assessment.”

She added that compulsory testing for groups deemed “high risk” has been going on for months, including care home workers who are required to get tested every two weeks.

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Yesterday, the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body submitted a formal complaint to the Equal Opportunities Commission, saying the mandatory testing and vaccination orders exposed FDHs to more vilification and stigmatization.

But in a subsequent radio interview, EOC Chairman Ricky Chu said mandatory testing of all FDHs, like all other anti-epidemic measures, was not discriminatory as it was "reasonable and necessary" even if it caused differential treatment.

He said a measure may be considered discriminatory if it targets a specific race, but in this case, the measures only targeted a specific profession.

Chu said that even the vaccination itself could be considered as causing differential treatment. But because of the pandemic, "it is extremely difficult to come up with a measure that is not differential."

The mandatory testing order had caused FDHs to line up by the hundreds on May 1 and 2, when most were on holiday, at community testing centers and mobile specimen collection stations across the city.

Latest figures from the government showed that more than 120,000 FDHs had received testing for Covid-19 on these two days alone.

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TST building evacuated after 5th variant carrier found in community

By The SUN

 

All residents of Beauty Mansion were moved to quarantine centers overnight

A building in Tsim Sha Tsui was locked down overnight, and all its residents in 40 units moved to evacuation centers after a resident was found infected with the N501Y coronavirus variant.

The 28-year-old housewife moved to Beauty Mansion at 69-71A Kimberley Road in Tsim Sha Tsui after completing her quarantine at Regal Oriental hotel on Apr 25.

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She arrived in Hong Kong from Delhi, India on Apr 4 aboard the virus plagued flight UK6395 operated by TATA SIA Airlines (Vistara).

According to records from the Centre for Health Protection, she should be the 58^th passenger from that flight to have been found infected with Covid-19.

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According to a statement released by the government late on Monday, the patient sought medical advice at the accident and emergency department of Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Apr 26, where she was tested negative for the coronavirus.

She went for a test again at a community testing center Apr 30, in compliance with a mandatory testing order, and the result was indeterminate.

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Because of this, she was admitted to hospital for further testing on May 2, and the result was preliminary positive, and she was also found positive for Covid-19 antibody, suggesting a prior infection.

Since she could have transmitted the virus to other people in the community from Apr 25 to May 2, the CHP said it ordered the transfer of all asymptomatic residents of Beauty Mansion to quarantine centres for 21 days. Anyone with symptoms will be sent to the hospital for treatment.

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She was the fifth variant carrier to have been found within Hong Kong. 

The first was a 29-year-old Indian returnee from Dubai who was found with the South African strain of the virus 10 days after being released from hotel quarantine. The second was his 31-year-old girlfriend with whom he lived in Jordan after being released from quarantine.

The third was a 38-year-old Filipina DH who tested positive for the variant shortly after moving in with her employers on Kennedy Road in Mid-Levels. Experts believe she acquired the virus from her hotel in Sai Ying Pun where two other guests on the same floor had earlier tested positive for the mutated variant.

The fourth was the Filipina DH in Tung Chung who did not have a recent travel history, and was originally reported to have acquired the variant from an unknown source. Her case prompted the evacuation of more than 1,000 residents of Tower 11 of Caribbean Coast where she lives with her employers.

The government also cited her case as the reason for ordering all 370,000 FDHs to get tested.

It now turns out the Filipina DH was in Citygate outlet in Tung Chung on the same day that the Indian couple had visited.

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Direct link found between Filipina DH and Indian returnee first found with variant

By Daisy CL Mandap 

The Filipina DH was in Citygate on same day as the Indian returnee & his girlfriend

A male Indian returnee from Dubai could have infected a Filipina domestic helper living in Tung Chung with the South African variant of the coronavirus when they both went to Citygate mall on Apr 11.

This emerged from a press statement issued by the Centre for Health Protection late last night, Monday, which said that the Indian man, the first local case to be found carrying the highly infectious coronavirus strain, had gone to Citygate in Tung Chung on the same day that the Filipina DH was there.

The 29-year-old man, identified as case no 11643, had been to the mall with his 31-year-old girlfriend (case no 11672), who apparently caught the variant from him. They also went to a restaurant, Curry Lounge, on the ground floor of SeaView Crescent in Tung Chung also on the same day.

The Filipina DH who was at Citygate on the same day was confirmed to be carrying the variant on Apr 30, triggering the evacuation and quarantine in government camps of 1,027 of her fellow residents at Tower 11 of Caribbean Coast, also in Tung Chung.

1,027 Caribbean Coast residents have been moved to quarantine centers 

Her case, said to be the first local infection of a variant acquired from an unknown source, also prompted the government to order all 370,000 foreign domestic helpers to undergo testing and vaccination for Covid-19.

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CHP records show the Indian returnee arrived in Hong Kong from Dubai on Mar 19, and spent the next 21 days in quarantine at Ramada Grand Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui where he was tested negative on his 12^th and 19^th day of isolation.

On his release from quarantine, he went to live with his girlfriend in Parkes building in Jordan and went to various places, including Cheung Chau island. He was asymptomatic.

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He had himself tested on Apr 14 in preparation for his return to Dubai. It was only then that his infection was found. Health experts said he must have caught the virus in Ramada TST where he stayed on the same floor with other newly arrived travelers found to have the variant earlier.

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In its statement, the government said it will issue a compulsory testing notice to “any person (including visitors and staff) who had been present at the two premises (Citygate and Curry Lounge) on April 11.”

It also urged people to get vaccinated “in view of the threat posed by the mutant strain.”

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4 people get $5k penalty tickets during Sunday patrol of FDH haunts

By The SUN 

Beach goers were not spared from govt staff enforcing social distancing rules

Government enforcers have continued their patrol of popular hangouts of foreign domestic helpers, this time going as far away as a beach in Castle Peak to remind people to follow social distancing rules.

A press statement issued by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department on Sunday evening said that staff of various government departments visited its venues and beaches in 18 districts earlier to ensure users are following anti-epidemic regulations.

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As of 4pm of the same day, more than 6,700 verbal advice was given, and four fixed penalty tickets each costing $5,000 were issued to violators.

No details of the people warned or apprehended were given out, but pictures that accompanied the statement showed those approached in at least three venues in Central, Lai Chi Kok and Castle Peak, were FDHs.

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The statement said the LCSD and other department stepped up venue inspections, and called on users to abide by the rules.

“Repeat offenders are prosecuted after verbal warnings (were) ignored,” said the statement.

Also targeted were parks run by LCSD like Statue Square in Central 

At the same, LCSD staff on patrol reportedly issued promotional materials and broadcast reminders urging FDHs to comply with the social distancing rules.

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The renewed campaign followed the discovery on Thursday that a Filipina DH who had joined friends in big gatherings was carrying the highly infectious coronavirus strain first found in South Africa. 

However, later studies by infectious disease experts revealed she had acquired the infection from an Indian returnee who tested positive 10 days after ending his 21-day hotel quarantine, and had lived several districts away from her.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

Government regulations provide that no more than four people can gather together in public places, including beaches and indoor venues. The wearing of masks in all public places is also strictly enforced.

The statement called on all users of LCSD venues “to exercise self-discipline and abide by relevant anti-epidemic regulations in order to reduce the chances of virus spreading in the community.”

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52k FDHs turn out on first day of mandatory Covid-19 tests

By The SUN 

FDH being swabbed inside a mobile testing van 

Hong Kong has reported a record daily high for specimen collection for Covid-19 on the first day of mandatory testing for foreign domestic workers, as two new imported infections were recorded today, May 3.

One of the two new confirmed cases is a 30-year-old Indonesian domestic helper who arrived on May 2 aboard Cathay Pacific flight CX 798 and was detected at the airport.

The other is a 36-year-old male air crew who arrived on Apr 27 aboard RL 9923.

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Staff at the Centre for Health Protection said the patient had tested preliminary positive on arrival, and was taken to hospital. However, his infection was confirmed only yesterday.

Both were asymptomatic, and clear of the N501Y variant of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, a government press release issued late on Sunday said an unprecedented  113,000 persons, (more than 52,000 of them FDHs), submitted specimens at 21 community testing centers and 35 mobile specimen collection stations across Hong Kong on May 1.

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As of 6pm Sunday, the results for over 54,000 specimens submitted the day before had come out, and no preliminarily positive result was found.

Hundreds of FDHs, who are mostly allowed to go out only on Sundays and statutory holidays, had queued up outside the testing centers for hours in the past two days, trying to beat the government’s deadline for mandatory testing on May 9.

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Sunday was mostly rainy, but it did not stop hundreds of FDHs from lining up for hours at mobile specimen collection sites. Many had complained of feeling hungry or tired from the long wait, but decided to stay put because nearly all CTCs are fully booked up until the deadline.

The demand was so high that the government had to set up an additional mobile collection station at Kowloon Park.

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A check today, May 3, of the government website for making appointments for tests show that only three CTCs have some slots on or before May 9, and they are all in the New Territories. One in Tsuen Wan, another in Yuen Long, and the third in Tsing Yi.

Sunday queue outside the Ma On Shan testing centre

The government announced on Friday, Apr 30, that all FDHs would have to undergo testing after being designated as a “high risk” group. Others in this category are staff of care homes for the elderly and disabled, as well as restaurant food servers.

In a statement, the government said designating FDHs as high risk was made “solely on public health grounds after detailed risk assessment.”

Among the factors reportedly taken into account were the two recent cases of FDHs being found with the mutant strain which is highly transmissible, and that both had taken part in gatherings with other FDHs during the incubation and infection periods.

The only ones exempted from the compulsory testing are those who had taken both vaccine jabs on or before Apr 25, when the full effect of the inoculation would have taken effect.

Those who are subject to compulsory testing may choose to give specimen samples through any of the following routes:

1. Visit any of the mobile specimen collection stations (see the list and target groups (if applicable) at www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/early-testing.html) for testing;
2. Make a prior booking or walk in at any of the 21 CTCs in several districts (for the full list, see www.communitytest.gov.hk/en/);      
3. Obtain a deep throat saliva specimen collection pack from any of the 121 post offices, vending machines set up at 20 MTR stations or 47 designated general outpatient clinics (GOPCs) of the Hospital Authority (HA) and return the specimen to one of the designated specimen collection points (see the distribution points and times, and the specimen collection points and times, at www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/early-testing.html)
4. Undergo testing at any of the GOPCs of the Hospital Authority as instructed by a medical professional of the Hospital Authority;      
5. Arrange for testing provided by private laboratories which are recognised by the Department of Health (DH) and can issue SMS notifications in respect of test results (see the list at www.coronavirus.gov.hk/pdf/List_of_recognised_laboratories_RTPCR.pdf);
6. Use a specimen bottle distributed to the relevant specified premises by the Centre for Health Protection (if applicable), and return the specimen bottle with the sample collected as per relevant guidelines.

   

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FDH group files complaint with EOC vs forced testing, vaccination

By Daisy CL Mandap 

AMCB officers Sringatin and Balladares-Pelaez submit letter to an EOC officer

A multi-ethnic foreign domestic helpers group has submitted a complaint letter to the Equal Opportunities Commission against the Hong Kong government’s order for all FDHs to undergo testing for Covid-19, and get vaccinated when they apply for a new work visa.

The letter was personally handed earlier today, May 3, by two leaders of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, Dolores Balladares-Pelaez and Sringatin, at the EOC office in Tai Koo.

The letter partly reads, “We welcome the government’s proposal for Covid-19 vaccination and mass testing for 370,000 foreign domestic helpers. But to make it mandatory and single out domestic workers connote racial discrimination, vilification and stigmatization of one of the most vulnerable members of Hong Kong society.”

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The FDH leaders said an EOC representative accepted their letter, but said group complaints are not allowed under their mandate. So the two of them, along with two more officers of AMCB, will each fill in a complaint form, and submit these together with whatever evidence they might have.

One piece of evidence they plan to submit is a testimony from a FDH who reported being shunned by fellow passengers when she got on a bus on the day the government imposed the orders.

AMCB argues that by forcing FDHs to go for tests and vaccinations, they have been unfairly tagged as carrier of the virus, and must thus be avoided.

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“Domestic helpers are already accused by the Hong Kong government as ‘job-hoppers’, ‘virus carriers’ and ‘high risk’; now they are discriminated against, vilified and stigmatized by the same government,” said AMCB in its letter.

The group claims the mandatory testing and vaccination violate the Racial Discrimination Ordinance and international treaties that Hong Kong adheres to, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Pelaez said AMCB is also setting up an appointment with a human rights lawyer to seek help in possibly filing a judicial review against the government’s decision to issue the testing and vaccination orders.

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In the meantime, the group is also complaining about the ambiguity of the vaccination order, the details of which are still being worked out, according to Labour Secretary Law Chi-kwong.

While no date has yet been set for its implementation, at least one AMCB member who went to Immigration today was reportedly asked by an officer if she had already received the Covid jab.

“Mabuti na lang tapos na siyang magpabakuna, kasi hindi natin alam kung ano ang pwedeng mangyari sakaling hindi pa nakapagpabakuna ang nag apply ng visa,” said Pelaez. (Luckily, she had already completed her vaccination because we don’t know what could happen if someone who hasn’t received the vaccine is applying for visa extension).

AMCB says the shunning of FDHs began on the day the mandatory orders were issued

Former legislator Fernando Cheung has said in an AMCB online protest on May 1 that mandatory vaccination for FDHs who are already in Hong Kong is illegal because it targets only a particular group.

He also said making vaccination a pre-condition to the issuance of a work visa violates the terms of the standard employment contract for FDHs.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

Consul General Raly Tejada has said the same thing, questioning why other non-residents who are also on employment visas are not being subjected to the same order.

The Philippines’ top diplomat also said the vaccination order would amount to a legal loophole in the FDH contracts.

But CG Tejada said the Consulate is still in talks with Hong Kong officials on the possibility of revoking the mandatory vaccination order.

“Kinakausap pa namin, baka hindi matuloy,” he said. (We are still in talks, hopefully it (mandatory vaccination) will not push through).

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Hundreds of FDHs line up for 2nd day of mandatory Covid-19 testing

By Vir B. Lumicao

Hundreds of FDHs line up to get tested amid the rain in Edinburgh Place, Central

Hundreds of mostly Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers lined up today, May 2, at mobile testing sites across Hong Kong for the second day of mandatory coronavirus testing that threatens to ruffle ties between Manila and Hong Kong.

As evening neared, migrant workers were still lined up under umbrellas as they waited during a drizzle to be tested at mobile testing sites in Central and Causeway Bay, and at community testing centers across the city.

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All of the city’s 370,000 FDHs, except those fully vaccinated, have been ordered to go for tests between May 1 to 9.

Some workers joined a call for a silent protest against the mandatory testing imposed by the Hong Kong government, raising banners with slogans like “Non-discrimination, tolerate” and “Stop insulting foreign domestic workers and selective law enforcement”.

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The same sight was repeated at the Mei Foo Park in Lai Chi Kok and Tsuen Wan Sport Ground, as well as in Tai Po and Yuen Long, according to migrant workers who live in those areas.

The queue in Tsuen Wan Sport Ground remained long just before closing time

At 8pm, the queue was still very long in Tsuen Wan, said Baby Jean de Leon, an administrator of the social media group Domestic Workers Corner, who lives close to the sports ground.

Apart from mandatory testing, the government has also said that all FDHs who will apply for new employment visas in Hong Kong will have to get vaccinated for coronavirus.

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The government issued the orders after a helper in Tung Chung tested positive for the  South African variant of the coronavirus, which is now known to have come from an Indian returnee from Dubai who was earlier found infected days after ending his 21-day hotel quarantine.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr backstopped his consul general in Hong Kong today, May 2, calling the mandatory vaccination order discriminatory.

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“Though the effect is good and saving, still marking them out smacks of discrimination and if it is a special favor, it is unfair to other nationalities. HK can do better than that,” Locsin said on Twitter.

His post followed Consul General Raly Tejada’s statement that the Hong Kong government’s decision was made without consulting the consulates of countries supplying helpers to the city.

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Tejada also asked why FDHs were singled out for the vaccination order when other non-residents in Hong Kong who are also on employment visas are not being told the same thing.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said in his blog today the vaccination of helpers is still being studied but is vital for the city to recover from the pandemic.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

But he defended the mandatory testing order, saying it does not discriminate against a particular race or identity as it was also issued to other high-risk groups such as care home workers. 

“Through testing, we can identify the source of the variant infections as soon as possible and effectively break the transmission chain,” he wrote.

The testing site at HKU was also swamped with FDHs trying to beat the govt deadline

Cheung’s statement came as the city confirmed two imported Covid-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 11,784, with 210 related deaths. The new cases, both Indonesians, tested positive on the seventh day of their hotel quarantine. There was no local case.

A Centre for Health Protection spokesman said the first patient, a woman aged 39, arrived on Cathay Pacific flight CX2780 from Surabaya on Apr 23. The other woman, 44, arrived from Jakarta via CX798 on Apr 24.

The spokesman said fewer than five persons were found to be preliminary-positive today.

At 9am today, a total of 97 confirmed patients were being treated in 16 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre. Three patients are critical, one is serious and the 93 others are stable.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong will ban all Turkish Airlines passenger flights from Istanbul from this midnight, May 3, to May 16 after a TK083 flight arrived on Apr 27 with three passengers carrying the Covid-19 virus.

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