Over 20 kindergarten kids quarantined after 4-year-old boy found infected

By The SUN 

The boy's case is the first untraceable infection in a week

Around 24 students and a teacher at a kindergarten school in Shek Kip Mei will be put under quarantine after a four-year-old boy was reported today, May 15, as having tested positive for Covid-19, the first untraceable local case in a week.

According to Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection, the boy who studies at HKVNS Alumni Association Kindergarten last went to school on May 12. He started having a fever and sore throat the following day, and went to see a private doctor in Tsing Yi.

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His sample showed he had Covid-19 although his viral load was low.

About two dozen pupils and teachers in the boy’s class will be sent to a quarantine hotel. Chuang said the kids will be accompanied by family members, and will be given toys and books.

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The infected boy reportedly splits his time between two homes, one in Shek Kip Mei and the other in Ho Man Tin. Both his parents work in restaurants, but tested negative in their latest regular tests.

The only other time the boy had gone out was for a meal with his family, limiting the possible route of transmission, so Chuang said that “hopefully we will find the possible source of infection for this case.”

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Two other cases were reported today, and both involve foreign domestic helpers who arrived from Indonesia. One is 35 years old and arrived in the city on May 1, and the other is 21 years old, and arrived on May 7.

One of them did not carry the N501Y variant while the other’s viral load was too low for genome sequencing.

Today’s new cases took Hong Kong’s total tally to 11,822.

Chuang says contamination could be the reason the lab clerk tested positive

Meanwhile, a man who made news recently after being tested positive for coronavirus despite receiving two doses of the BioNTech vaccine could soon be declared as a false positive case.

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According to Chuang, genome sequencing showed that the man, who worked as a clerk at BGI Laboratory, carried a strain of the virus which was not similar to what was circulating at the time he was found infected on May 4.

Rather, the strain was closer to the one that originated from Wuhan, suggesting it may have been a case of contamination.

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If the case is found to have resulted from contamination, it will be removed from Hong Kong’s list of infections.

Meanwhile, Dr. Linda Yu, a chief manager at the Hospital Authority said that as of 9am today, 56 confirmed patients were being treated at 14 public hospitals and the North Lantau infection control center.

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They include two patients in critical condition, one in serious condition, and the remaining 53 in stable condition.

 

Over 400 stranded OFWs dismayed by response to complaint vs PAL

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The complainants say they've been waiting for months for PAL to fly them home

Hundreds of Filipino domestic workers who have been stuck in Hong Kong for months have expressed dismay at the response they got to a complaint one of them had filed with Malacanang against Philippine Airlines’ frequent flight cancellations.

The Civil Aeronautics Board, to which the Presidential Complaints Center endorsed the worker’s complaint early this week, gave PAL 24 hours to answer the complaint.

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But on Friday, May 14, the national flag carrier’s legal office replied to the CAB directive by dealing with only an individual ticket refund claim by one of the workers.

PAL said that based on its records, “the refund request has already been approved for processing,” but as the purchase of the tickets was made via credit card, the airline’s approval to refund was forwarded to its acquiring bank, which will process the refund to the card issuing bank.

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The stranded workers, who number around 400 based on a list supplied to the Consulate, said the CAB appeared to have misunderstood the complaint, which was made on behalf of everyone holding a cancelled PAL ticket.

It was not a simple complaint for a much-delayed refund for a ticket, although they also wished they could get an immediate refund so they could switch to another airline that could better assure them of a return flight home.

Some complainants gave up the wait and flew home aboard another airline

They also said the worker who made the complaint had already flown back to the Philippines via another airline, after giving up on her quest to get onto a PAL flight.

The distressed workers were perplexed because only two days earlier, their colleague who sent the emailed complaint to the PCC received a response from CAB, saying it was investigating.

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The CAB then asked for the names of complainants/victims and copies of their tickets, bookings and cancellations. It also sent the worker a copy of the notice it sent PAL instructing the airline to answer/comment within 24 hours.

Following PAL’s reply to CAB, which the civil aviation regulator forwarded to the complaining worker, the complainant wrote another email to CAB pointing out the apparent misunderstanding.

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“Hi Mam/Sir, we truly appreciate your response and assistance to our email. We are actually requesting your kind office to help our fellow stranded OFWs in Hong Kong to be sent home. Miss Janie is only one of the stranded OFWs in Hong Kong …we are really hoping that you can help (us) to be home in Philippines,” the complainant said.      

The stranded workers also sought The SUN's help in relaying their concerns to the Consulate

The workers have also sent a petition letter to Consul General Raly Tejada to ask for help in getting onto one of the flights arranged by the Consulate with PAL, saying they had no more cash to buy a ticket on other carriers. 

“Most of us bought air tickets from PAL, but, unfortunately, our flights had been cancelled several times. For every rebooking of our tickets, we were charged rebooking fee. One of us has had her flight cancelled 8 times since January. Another is in need of medical assistance,” the workers said in the petition. 

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“Many of us are already so desperate and distressed; most of us are already mentally and physically unhealthy,” said the workers, who admitted they have been skipping meals and are relying only on the generosity of supporters for their daily needs.

This was followed up with a visit to the Consulate last Sunday, during which the petitioners pressed their appeal for help, saying they had run out of money for their rebookings and visa extensions.

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Consul Paulo Saret, head of the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section, said the Department of Foreign Affairs has already requested the government’s Inter-Agency Task Force to allow PAL to fly home 200 workers on its May 19^th flight.

But as of Thursday, 400 stranded workers had already signed up for a place in the flight that is still being arranged. 

Saret said another flight is being arranged later this month to fly the remaining workers home. But in the meantime, the ball is in the IATF’s court, as the body that oversees the government’s coronavirus response gets to decide on how many passengers can fly into Manila from various destinations abroad on a daily basis.

He urged the stranded workers to register with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and wait.

Wong confirms two PAL cargo flights are arriving later this month 

The PAL officer who is in charge of the airline’s Hong Kong office, George S.F. Wong, said there are indeed two cargo flights arriving on May 19 and May 26. But it is the executives in Manila who can confirm whether there would be seats on the return flights  for the stranded workers.

Only cargo flights are allowed to fly in from Manila since Hong Kong imposed a ban on all passenger arrivals from the Philippines since Apr 20.

Meanwhile, PAL called one of the stranded workers on Thursday to confirm her booking for the May 19 flight to Manila. The worker excitedly shared the news with the other stranded OFWs, keeping them abuzz.

Some workers with PAL tickets, however, greeted the “good news” with chagrin and began shifting to Cebu Pacific even at high prices for a one-way ticket home.

On Monday, one worker left Hong Kong on a Cebu Pacific flight after her employer paid $2,600-plus for her ticket and discarded the PAL ticket. Four others were able to book seats on a Cebu Pacific flight on Thursday.

But for the rest, the long wait for a flight home continues. Many have already been issued red-sealed letters of ultimatum to exit by HK Immigration, but they could not comply due to PAL’s repeated cancellations of their bookings.

 

FDHs reminded to get Covid-19 tests from tomorrow, and keep SMS of results

By The SUN 

The Labour Department has called on all foreign domestic helpers to comply with mandatory testing starting tomorrow, May 15, until May 30.

All those who are fully vaccinated, meaning, those who have taken two doses of either the Sinovac or BioNTech vaccine, then waited for 14 days, are exempt from the compulsory testing order.

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Given that the last day of testing is May 30, those who get their second jab on May 16 or earlier, can skip the test.

All FDHs who have complied with the testing order must keep the SMS notification containing their test result for checking by law enforcement officers to avoid penalty.

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Those who are exempted can either (1) download their electronic vaccination records or (2) save the printouts on their mobile phones, or (3) bring along the printouts or copies of their vaccination records, to be shown to law enforcers when requested.

Anyone who does not comply with a compulsory testing notice may be fined a fixed penalty of $5,000. The person will also be told to undergo testing within a specified time frame. If this is not met, the offender could be fined a maximum of $25,000 and imprisoned for up to six months. 

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The second round of compulsory testing for FDHs kicks off just six days after the initial phase ended.

Amid claims and protests from FDHs at being singled out for mandatory testing, Labour said the decision to do another round was due to the spread of the N501Y mutant strain among 10 people in the community, including three FDHs.

CTCs' capacity will be boosted during the 16-day testing period for FDHs

To prevent the overcrowding and long queues that happened in the first few days of the first round of mandatory tests, Labour said the government will work with operators to increase the testing capacity of community testing centers.

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Employers have also been urged to allow their helpers to undergo testing on weekdays, and arrange bookings for them in advance to prevent overcrowding at testing sites during Saturdays and Sundays.

Bottomline, the statement said “it is imperative for the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” adding that Hong Kong has enough vaccines for all qualified people, while there is still a shortage in the global supply.

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“At present, there are still plenty of unutilised quotas every day in the 29 community vaccination centres and over 1,000 private clinics,” said the statement.

“The Government appeals to all FDHs to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect their own health and the health of their employers' families and others.” 

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To book your appointments or look for the CTCs or mobile testing centers near you, click this link: 

https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/early-testing.html 

Govt adds tests for new arrivals, tightens rules at quarantine hotels

By The SUN 

Quarantine hotels are advised to only fill 80% of their rooms

The government has tightened infection control at designated quarantine hotels, including requiring more tests for guests and allowing only registered nurses to conduct the swabbing.

The announcement came after expert studies showed that the index patient in the spread of the coronavirus variant in the community had caught it from a next-door neighbor in the Ramada Grand Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui where he spent his 21-day quarantine.

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A press statement released earlier said a Filipino man was the original carrier of the variant that was passed on in the hotel to an Indian returnee from Dubai, who in turn infected nine other people in the community.

At least three foreign domestic workers – two Filipinas and one Indonesian - who tested positive after ending their quarantine and joining their employers, are also believed to have been infected in their respective hotels.

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In a statement, the government said that apart from the initial test at the airport, new arrivals will face further tests while in hotel quarantine, including one on the third day.

Depending on where the traveler had come from, the number of tests will be increased proportionately to the length of quarantine.

Aside from the arrival test, those on 21-day quarantine will be tested 4 more times 

For those on 7-day compulsory quarantine, the tests will be increased to two, while those coming from extremely high-risk or very-high countries like the Philippines (if the flight ban is lifted), will face four additional tests during their mandatory 21-day hotel isolation.

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In addition, those who come from extremely high-risk and very high-risk places and those on shortened quarantine periods will face further mandatory tests after completing quarantine.

“To strengthen quality assurance of testing,” the government said it now requires testing contractors to ensure that all swab takers are either a registered nurse or an enrolled nurse, with experience in specimen collection by swabbing. 

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The contractors are also obliged to ensure that the officer-in-charge of specimen collection is either a registered doctor, nurse or other healthcare professionals with at least three years' relevant experience.

In relation to this, the government held a training session on combined nasal and throat swab for representatives of the two existing contractors for collecting and processing specimens for testing.

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Noting that a large number of arrivals from high-risk areas tend to book their stay at some designated quarantine hotels, the government advised the hotels to lower their occupancy rate to 80 percent.

Hotels have also been advised to separate guests returning from high-risk areas from those in different zones, like putting them on different floors as far as practicable, and ensure air purifiers are installed on each floor.

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In addition, they should remind guests not to open windows before opening their door, or while conducting combined nasal and throat swab sampling.

Hotel staff shall be tested every seven days, instead of every 14 days.

Meanwhile, only one case of Covid-19 infection was reported today, and it involves a 43-year-old man who arrived from the United Arab Emirates who tested positive on arrival at the airport. He was asymptomatic.

He took the total tally in Hong Kong to 11,819.

In the past 14 days, a total of 47 cases have been reported, nine of which were local infections. Only one of these was from an unknown source.

 

 

Filipina accused of refusing to give details of her variant infection released on bail

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Guadiz left court with reporters in hot pursuit

The Filipina girlfriend of an Indian man who was said to have set off an outbreak of the South African variant of coronavirus in Hong Kong was charged today, May 14, in Kowloon City Court with failing to give information to an authorized officer.

Victoria Marie Guadiz, 31, a clinic receptionist in Central, was accused before Magistrate Ada Yim of refusing to give information to health authorities about her movements on April 10 and 11.

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At her request, saying she was about to be fired from her job that paid her $26,000 a month because of the case, the magistrate allowed Guadiz to post bail of $2,000 until her next court appearance on May 31.

The Filipina looked calm as she stood in the dock, her face partly hidden by a face mask and a face shield, while dozens of reporters ogled and took note of her every movement.

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After the case was adjourned, most of the reporters waited for nearly two hours outside the court house, waiting for her to emerge. When she did, the reporters tried to besiege her, but she quickly ran away.

This was the defendant’s first appearance in court, as she was taken to hospital due to a fever last Monday, when she and her co-defendant, Indian engineer Syed Mohamed Rizvi, were scheduled to be charged.

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This time, health authorities had certified that she no longer posed a threat of transmitting a communicable disease.

The prosecution applied for the case to be adjourned so police can obtain CCTV footage from shops and hotel records on the days Guadiz and Rizvi visited various places after his release from quarantine.

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Both defendants will face an additional charge during their next court appearance on May 31, the prosecutor said.

In a hearing last Monday, the prosecution said Rizvi would face an additional charge of lying to Immigration officers during an interview about their movements on the two days in April.

Guadiz said she is about to be fired from her job at a clinic in The Centrium

Rizvi told the investigators initially that he and Guadiz only walked around Jordan and Tsim Sha Tsui, then visited Cheung Chau. He did not mention other places they visited, like Tung Chung and Discovery Bay; and of having attended a gathering in Chai Wan.

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As a result of Guadiz’s refusal to give information to the officers, about 1,000 had to go to a 21-day compulsory quarantine and delayed the government efforts to control the pandemic, the prosecutor said.

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As with Rizvi,  the prosecutor had opposed bail for the Filipina, citing the seriousness of the case and the possibility that she would abscond, despite being a Hong Kong permanent resident.

Filipina vaccine patient 'had hypertension, seizure history'

By Daisy Mandap 

Gemalyn Gabon is still in intensive care at Princess Margaret Hospital

A 31-year-old Filipina domestic workers remains in intensive care at Princess Margaret Hospital, two days after she fainted within minutes of taking her second dose of the BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Lai Chi Kok Park.

Hospital Authority staff said Gemalyn L. Gabon remained in critical condition today, May 14, but Welfare Office Virsie B. Tamayao of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said the patient was just heavily sedated and not unconscious. 

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Tamayao, who visited Gabon at the hospital last night, said the attending doctor did a CT scan that showed the patient had no brain injury. But she continued having seizures so she was given medicines that made her drowsy and put her "in a deep sleep."

“The doctor said her (Gabon’s) blood pressure is high, but not too much,” said Tamayao.

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But when she checked Gabon’s medical history, the doctor reportedly found out that that the Filipina became hypertensive last year that she had to be confined at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Gabon’s sister also reportedly told the doctor that when the patient was young, she had epileptic seizures twice, but they had not recurred since.

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Asked if she thought the vaccination had caused Gabon’s seizures, the doctor reportedly said, “I don’t think so. I think it’s just a coincidence, given her past medical history.”

But the doctor told Tamayao that Gabon will be subjected to further tests, including an electroencephalogram to detect electrical activity in her brain and find out what was causing her seizures.

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However, she is said to have a good chance of recovery since a CT scan made earlier did not detect any brain injury. Neither does she have fever, which could indicate an infection.

Gabon arrived in Hong Kong only in January 2020 (photo from Facebook)

Gabon, a single mother of two and native of Gloria, Oriental Mindoro, had worked in Dubai, United Arab Emirates previously, but did not seem to suffer any medical problems. 

She arrived in Hong Kong in January 2020, and moved to a new employer after a year.

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Her current employer reportedly told Tamayao that the helper was very active and hardworking.

“Parang wala naman daw sakit,” (She didn't seem to be sick at all) Tamayao recalled the employer as saying. 

Although the employer did not require the worker to undergo medical examination before hiring her, she would have been certified as “fit to work” before leaving the Philippines just a year earlier.

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On being asked by the doctor, the employer said that after Gabon had her first dose of the vaccine, she vomited and complained of a headache that lasted for around two hours. However, she did not seek medical attention.

On Wednesday, at about 4:30pm, she collapsed in the holding area of the vaccination center, just a few minutes after she had her second jab. Fellow Filipinas at the scene could be overheard as saying that Gabon’s hands were shaking.

Late last night, the Hospital Authority posted a report on adverse events following vaccinations that happened within the day, including Gabon’s, whose symptoms were described as “convulsions.”

Of the six people who were taken to hospitals after vaccination on the same day, she was the only one who was admitted, and her condition was described as “critical.”

Two others were recorded as having convulsions, with one also losing consciousness; two complained of feeling dizzy, while one suffered from vertigo.

According to the report, about 25,700 people had received vaccination on the same day.

It also said that as background information, there were 49 cases of stroke or myocardial infarction that happened on the same day. All were admitted to either the intensive care unit, the acute stroke unit or the cardiac care unit of public hospitals.

“The state of new cases admitted to the wards concerned is provided as a cross reference to enhance fuller public understanding of cases of the kind recorded on vaccine recipients,” said the statement.

Filipina in variant cluster the lone local among 3 new Covid-19 patients

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The Indian patient reportedly got the variant from a Filipino who also stayed at Ramada TST

The girlfriend of a Filipino man who is found to be infected with the N501Y coronavirus variant today became the 10^th confirmed patient in a cluster outbreak that began with an Indian engineer from Dubai who tested positive for the South African strain.

As this developed, RTHK reported that an expert has revealed that the index patient in the cluster is not really the Indian man but a Filipino who stayed in a room next to his at Ramada Hong Kong Grand Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.

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The report quoted Dr Gilman Siu from Polytechnic University’s department of health technology and informatics as saying the latest genetic analysis by his team shows the virus carried by the Filipino was the “ancestor” of the transmission chain.

“We found that one mutation is missing in [the virus carried by] the Filipino young man, suggesting this virus should be the ‘ancestor’. When it’s transmitted to the Indian man, it developed one more mutation,” Siu said.

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The Indian returnee (case No. 11643) tested negative for the virus before he was released from a 21-day hotel quarantine. He went on to live with his Filipina girlfriend, a clinic receptionist in Central who rented a flat in Parkes Building on Jordan Road. 

Together, they attended a family gathering at the house of the Filipina’s mother in Chai Wan on Apr 13. Also present were today’s case, who is 40 years old, and the 42-year-old brother of the Filipina who was reported as infected yesterday.

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The two latter patients held another party in Sham Shui Po on Apr 18, and invited three Filipina domestic helpers who also caught the variant.

The Centre for Health Protection is still trying to find out the type of infection the Filipina (case No. 11816) carried, a CHP staff said. She added that the 42-year-old boyfriend (11815) was confirmed today to be an N501Y carrier.

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The two had earlier tested positive for immunoglobulin G, indicating a previous infection.

The 10^th patient in the cluster is the only local case among today’s three confirmed Covid-19 patients who included a man, aged 43, who arrived from France with a new variant of concern, or VOC, called L452R.

The third case is an Indonesian female helper, 35, who arrived on May 9 and was in quarantine at Ramada Hong Kong Grand in Tsim Sha Tsui when she tested positive for the regular Covid-19.

The man from France found with the newly identified variant stayed abroad for only 3 days

The first imported case, the man who arrived from France on May 9, resided at 29 Staunton St in Central, and got tested before he left for Paris on May 6.

When he returned to Hong Kong on May 9, he stayed at Regal Airport Hotel in Chek Lap Kok, for his quarantine. He developed fever on May 11 and was taken to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung, where he was found to have the L452R variant.

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CHP has classified him as an imported case from France. Yet, out of caution, building on Staunton St where he had stayed during part of the incubation period was put under a compulsory testing notice today.

After the WHO classified the variant strain B.1.617 as the fourth variant of concern, the CHP said it will use L452R with immediate effect as the indicator of the new variant. The N501Y indicator was earlier used to refer to three earlier VOCs known as the B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 variants.

L452R cases will be managed in the same way as those that are N501Y positive, the CHP said.

The Hospital Authority said as of 9am today, 63 confirmed Covid-19 patients were being treated in 14 public hospitals and the infection control center at North Lantau Hospital. Two of these patients are in critical condition, one is serious and the remaining 60 are stable.