Three Filipina DHs found with mutated virus during mass testing

 By Daisy CL Mandap 

Rain or shine, FDHs turn out in droves to beat the May 9 deadline for mass testing

The mandatory testing of all foreign domestic helpers which started on May 1 has uncovered three Filipinas with the mutated variants of the coronavirus.

The first case of a 48-year-old helper was reported as confirmed Tuesday, and caused the evacuation and quarantining of residents in more than 200 flats in Allway Gardens in Tsuen Wan where she lives with her employers.

The two others are friends who had been to several places before the mass testing showed they both carried the mutated variant. They had not left Hong Kong recently.

Pindutin para sa detalye

After they were classified as preliminary positive, the buildings where they live, the Royalton in Pokfulam and Kornhill Garden Block N2, were put under lockdown starting at midnight. All residents there will be tested starting this morning.

The helper in Tsuen Wan has been classified by health authorities as “possibly local” with unknown sources. She arrived in Hong Kong from Manila on Mar 31, and was released from her 21-day quarantine at Dorsett Hotel in Wanchai after testing negative for Covid-19.

After leaving the hotel on Apr 21, she went to the eighth floor of the Immigration Tower in Wanchai to apply for a HK ID. Three officers who attended to her have been tested and put under quarantine. The office itself had been disinfected since because of another case.

Call now!

The worker also visited a clinic in Causeway Bay for a physical check-up, then moved in with her employer’s family the next day,

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the helper tested positive for antibodies, suggesting she had been infected earlier. But she could have also contracted the infection in the community as she had been going around for awhile.

The two other FDWs found with the highly transmissible variant had visited a McDonald’s outlet on Connaught Road, Central on Apr 25, and the Saizeriya restaurant in the Dragon Centre mall in Sham Shui Po on Sunday, May 2. The day before, they went to a small park near Victoria Park in Causeway Bay.

CALL US!

The worker in Kornhill Garden shopped at the Quarry Bay market twice a week, while her friend visited a Fairwood outlet and the market in Kennedy Town.

Their other movements are still being investigated.

One of the infected Filipinas lives in Kornhill Garden in Quarry Bay

Meanwhile, also reported as a preliminary case was the female employer of another Filipina helper in with the first untraceable, locally acquired variant who lives in Caribbean Coast, Tung Chung. The employer, who teaches at primary school, also had the coronavirus mutation.

The woman’s 10-month-old baby girl also tested positive for the variant at the same time as their Filipina helper. 

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

 

Both the employer and the helper had been to Citygate Outlets mall in Tung Chung which was visited by two previously identified carriers N501Yvariant, an Indian returnee from Dubai and his girlfriend with whom he lived in Jordan.

Contact tracing showed the Filipina helper was at the mall on the same day that the Indian couple had visited. Earlier investigations showed the helper had the same genetic sequencing for the virus as the Indian returnee, indicating she had been infected by him.

The CHP has issued mandatory testing for anyone who had been to the mall between Apr 11 and 26, when the infected patients had visited. Also at two restaurants visited

The compulsory testing notice was also issued at two restaurants visited by the Indian couple on Apr 10 and 11: Curry Lounge at SeaView Crescent in Tung Chung, and Zaks at Discovery Bay.

Also among four confirmed cases reported Tuesday was a housewife who returned from India a month ago, and was also found to have the mutated virus. The building where she lives in Tsim Sha Tsui was evacuated Monday night following the discovery of her infection.

The two other cases involved foreign domestic helpers who recently arrived from Indonesia.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

 

Another Filipina DH found with variant after ending hotel quarantine

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Block R of Allway Gardens will be evacuated while other residents will be tested

Hundreds of residents of Allway Gardens  in Tsuen Wan are to be moved to a quarantine center after a Filipina domestic helper who lives there with her employer has been found to carry the N501Y variant of the coronavirus.

The 48-year-old helper whose case has classified as a “suspected local” was among four new confirmed infections today, May 5. She had moved in with her employers on Apr 20 after finishing her 21-day quarantine at Dorsett Hotel in Wanchai where all her tests showed a negative result.

Pindutin para sa detalye

The three others were classified as imported, including a pregnant Indian woman who had gone home to Beauty Mansion at 69-71A Kimberley Road in Tsim Sha Tsui after testing negative for Covid-19 while in quarantine at Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon.

Forty flats in Beauty Mansion were evacuated early this morning following the discovery of the Indian woman’s case.

Call now!

At today’s press briefing, health officials expressed concern about the cases of the two women, who both carried the highly infectious variant.  They fear the patients had transmitted the virus to others in the community because their infections were not detected early enough.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said that after finishing her hotel quarantine, the Filipina helper went to a clinic on Apr 21 for a body check, then proceeded to the eighth floor of the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai to apply for a HK ID card.

CALL US!

She then joined her employers in Block R of Allway Gardens in Tsuen Wan.

The government put the residential estate under a lockdown overnight so everyone living there could undergo testing. All residents of the affected block will then be sent to quarantine.

Chuang says there are signs the Filipina was infected even before coming to HK

Chuang said the Filipina mostly took her employers’ child to the Anunciation Catholic Kindergarten, the wet market and Wellcome supermarket in Allway Gardens; as well as to a piano studio called Tin Wan. She also took the children to the Discovery Park mall for shopping and to play.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

 

The helper took a Covid-19 test on May 2 in compliance with compulsory testing for all FDHs in the territory, and the result was indeterminate. But upon verification it came out positive with a very high CT value, Chuang said.

In hospital, she was given a nasal swab test which yielded no traces of the virus, but her deep throat sample that was tested at CHP laboratory was later found positive with the variant.

Chuang said that because of the Filipina having N501Y, her travel history and the presence of antibodies in her body, the patient could not be ruled out as an imported case.

But at the moment she is a suspected local case because she has been in the community for some time. Authorities are currently doing contact tracing to see whether the source of her infection is local. 

This is the second time that a Filipina DH was found to carry the mutated virus days after ending her hotel quarantine, and moving in with her employer. The first one was a 38-year-old whose infection led to the quarantine of all residents of the posh building her employers live in on Kennedy Road, Mid-Levels.

The 28-year-old Indian woman, on the other hand, arrived on Apr 4 on board the virus- plagued UK 6395 flight operated by Vistara Airlines. CHP records show 57 other passengers on that flight have tested positive for Covid-19.

The woman ended her quarantine on Apr 25, and moved to the home she shares with family members in Beauty Mansion.

Chuang said the woman mostly stayed at home but went to see a doctor at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Apr 26 for a test. The result was negative.

She went for a test again at a community testing centre on Apr 30, in compliance with a mandatory testing order, and the result was unverified so her samples were tested by the CHP laboratory.

“Yesterday, she tested positive for N501Y. As a precaution, other residents of Beauty Mansion had been sent to the quarantine center. They are regarded as close contacts and will be put under observation,” Chuang said. 

CHP reports 77 residents of the building have been sent to quarantine. Residents of six other units are still being tracked down by police.

“Probably she was infected in India of upon arrival in Hong Kong due to the amount of antibodies found in her samples, so we regard this case as an imported case,” Chuang said, adding that the case was not connected with previous cases in Regal Oriental.

The two other imported cases are Indonesian domestic helpers who arrived on separate days.

The first, who is 34 years old, flew in via Garuda Flight 876 from Jakarta on Sunday and was found positive at the airport.

The other Indonesian, aged 40, arrived on a GA876 flight on Mar 26 and tested positive on her seventh day of hotel quarantine.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

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.

Pindutin para sa detalye

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.

Call now!

 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. 

CALL US!

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.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

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.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

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.

Pindutin para sa detalye

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.

Call now!

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.

CALL US!

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.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

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.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

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.

Call now!

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.

CALL US!

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.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

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.”

PADALA NA!

Call us!

 

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.

Pindutin para sa detalye

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.

Call now!

 

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.

CALL US!

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.”

PADALA NA!

Call us!

 

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.

Pindutin para sa detalye

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.

Call now!

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.

CALL US!

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.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

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.

   

   PADALA NA!
   

   

   Call us!