4-month-old baby is 11th case in variant cluster outbreak

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The baby and his parents gathered with 3 other variant patients in this building

The South African variant of the coronavirus found in a cluster outbreak that began with an Indian engineer from Dubai has infected a four-month-old nephew of the man’s Filipina girlfriend, bringing to 11 the confirmed cases in that bunch. 

The baby was the only local case among today’s four new infection that include a Russian cabin crew aged 55, an Indian woman aged 29, and an Indonesian female domestic helper aged 40.

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He is said to be the youngest person in Hong Kong found to carry the variant feared to be far more contagious than the regular strain.

The baby is a son of the older brother of Victoria Marie Guadiz, the 31-year-old girlfriend of Indian engineer Syed Mohamed Rizvi, 30.

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A staff of the Information Services Department said the baby was carrying both the N501Y and E484K strains of the virus.

The Centre for Health Protection had said in earlier updates that the baby’s father (case number 11815) and mother (11816) attended a family gathering on Apr 13 with Guadiz (11672) and her boyfriend (11643) in a flat at Fung Hing House in Chai Wan.

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The occupant of the Chai Wan flat is the baby’s 67-year-old grandmother (11800), who herself was confirmed to be infected by the variant on May 7.

The 42-year-old father was confirmed positive on May 12 while the 40-year-old mother turned positive the next day, the CHP said.

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The couple subsequently hosted another gathering at 37 Fuk Wing St in Sham Shui Po on Apr 18 that was attended by three Filipina domestic helpers (11773, 11793 and 11797) who were confirmed earlier as carriers of the N501Y mutant strain.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Sophia Chan has said that the authorities are stepping up contract tracing in hopes of finding the source of infection of the 4-year-old boy who was reported to have Covid-19 yesterday, the first local case with an unknown source in a week.

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About two dozen of his classmates and teachers had to be sent to a quarantine hotel after his infection was uncovered.

Chan said mandatory testing will be imposed on places where the boy had been to and stayed at. Initial investigations showed he only went to his school in Shek Kip Mei and had a meal with family members.

One of the 3 new imported cases tested positive for the L452R variant

The ISD staff said that among today’s imported cases was the Russian air crew who arrived on May 14 via AirBridgeCargo Airlines flight RU531 from Moscow. The result of his laboratory test for variant type is still pending, the staff said.

Another case involves a woman who flew in on Apr 18 from Delhi on Vistara UK6395, and was found to carry the newly identified  L452R variant.

According to the CHP, the woman is the mother of a 9-month-old baby girl who was earlier confirmed as a Covid-19 case and went to hospital on Apr 27. The mother got herself admitted so she could take care of the baby.

After the baby was discharged on May 7, both of them went to quarantine again. The mother was tested a few times before her sample tested positive on May 15 at the quarantine camp.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

The third imported case, the Indonesian helper, arrived on Cathay Pacific CX2780 from Surabaya on May 7 and stayed at the Best Western Hotel in Causeway Bay. She tested positive for Covid-19 on her 7^th day test while in hotel quarantine.

Today’s new cases brought the caseload in Hong Kong so far to 11,825.

The Hospital Authority said 56 confirmed patients are being treated in 15 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre. Two patients are in critical condition, one is serious and the remaining 53 patients are stable.

5 FDHs told to get tested after failing to comply with compulsory testing

  By The SUN

The spot checks were done as FDHs began complying with a second order to get tested 

Officers from the Labour Department have issued compulsory testing notice orders to five foreign domestic helpers who failed to comply with the government’s directive for all FDHs to get themselves tested for Covid-19 from May 1-9.

According to a statement issued by the government late on Sunday, the five violators were found after labour officers conducted spot checks on known FDH haunts across the city. Twenty other cases are being followed up.

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This came as the second round of mandatory tests on FDHs continued for the second day, amid one of the hottest days of the year. The second phase is set to last from May 15-30.

A total of 3,539 FDHs were reportedly asked to show the SMS notification of their test result for the previous round, or proof that they had two doses of a vaccine 14 days before the May 9 deadline.

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“The vast majority had complied with the compulsory testing notice,” said the statement, “but there were 20 FDHs whose testing/vaccination records required further verification.”

The Labour Department will follow up on those cases accordingly, said the statement.

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No mention was made of any fixed penalty ticket being issued to any of the five FDHs, who were reportedly told to undergo testing within a specified period.

Under the anti-epidemic restrictions, a fixed penalty ticket costing $5,000 may be issued outright to anyone who fails to follow a compulsory testing order.

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At the same time, the person is issued with a compulsory testing order requiring him or her to undergo testing within a specified time, or face a further fine of up to $25,000 and imprisonment for six months.

The government statement said labour officers roamed Central, Tamar Park in Admiralty, Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, Lai Chi Kok Park, Tsuen Wan Park, and a footbridge near Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok for the past two days to check on FDHs’ compliance.

Workers register their phone numbers where their test result will be sent via SMS

For the second round, all FDHs, except those who had their second vaccine jab at least two weeks before the May 30 deadline (or on or before May 16), must take the coronavirus test all over again.

The second testing order, which comes just six days after the previous round ended, was met with widespread indignation by FDHs who called it an act of discrimination and stigmatization.

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A number showed their displeasure today by wearing red, in response to a call by some migrant leaders.

But when some police officers approached a red-clad group that gathered on Chater Road in Central, the workers denied staging a protest in violation of anti-gathering restrictions. 

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

 

Many workers, however, complied with the order. Those who arrived early in Central said they lined up at the mobile testing center at Chater Garden even before the medics who conducted the test took up their stations.

Some workers turned up in red in a silent protest at the compulsory orders

“Kaninang umaga mahaba ang pila. Inagahan ko para makaiwas sa sobrang init kapag mataas na ang araw,” said a worker who waited for her three friends who decided to line up after lunch. (This morning the queue was long. I lined up early to avoid the excessive heat when the sun is already high.)

At 1:50pm, it was 32 degrees Celsius in Central and most parts of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, making the heat almost unbearable. By then, there were only about 20 people lining up under the tents set up by the testing staff inside Chater Garden.  

Another Filipina who just had her swab test was complaining that the male medic who took samples from her nostril and throat had a heavy hand.

“Ang sakit naman niyang mag-swab. Ang bigat ng kamay niyang sumundot sa aking ilong,” the woman said.  (I hurt a lot when he swabbed me. His hand was heavy.)

Workers arrived individually, in pairs or threes, so there was room for the marshals to space out the distance between those on the queue.

Those who had booked tests online walked straight to the registration officers to confirm their bookings and were directed to the next available testing booth.

By 4pm, only a handful of workers could be seen registering for the walk-in swab in Chater Garden, where those who got tested were mostly Filipinos. 

But over at Victoria Park, which is a favorite hub of Indonesian workers, the queue was still quite long.

In the past exercise, a total of 340,000 FDHs complied with the order, said the government. A further 40,000 were exempted because they were fully vaccinated.

Three positive results came out from that initial round. Two were linked to a variant spread that started with an Indian returnee who appeared to have gotten infected in his quarantine hotel. The third had just ended her quarantine, and was also believed to have acquired the virus from her hotel.

Alim Prima agency loses license for not drawing up agreement with FDHs

By The SUN

 

The agency violated the Code of Practice by not drawing up service agreements

An employment agency in Mong Kok lost its bid to stop the Labour Department from revoking its license for failing to draw up a service agreement with its foreign domestic helper clients and not giving them detailed receipts.

The order canceling Alim Prima Employment’s license became final after the Administrative Appeals Board dismissed its appeal against the Labour Department’s decision on Thursday, May 13.

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A government press release issued Friday, May 15, said the agency lost its license after it failed to meet the requirements as set out in the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies, or CoP.

Alim Prima was the second agency to be stripped of its license by the Labour Department  this month for failing to meet the CoP requirements.

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On May 3, the Department also cancelled the license of Hong Kong Maid Agency in Taipo for non-compliance with the code. It was the first agency to lose its license this year.

In the latest case, the Department said Alim Prima failed to draw up service agreements with foreign domestic helpers, failed to include all required items in the agreements signed with the helpers and employers, and failed to include all required items in the payment receipts issued to them.

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All operators of employment agencies are reminded to conduct their business in compliance with the law and the requirements of the CoP at all times.       

Under section 53 of the Employment Ordinance, the Commissioner for Labour may revoke the license of an agency if he is satisfied that the licensee concerned has not complied with the CoP.

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“The CoP sets out the salient legal requirements that EA operators must observe in operating their business, as well as the standards which the Commissioner expects from agencies,” the statement said.

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Under the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2018, the Commissioner is given the power to refuse to issue or renew a license, or revoke one if he decides on reasonable grounds that the licensee has contravened the law, such as overcharging job seekers or operating an EA without a license, or has not complied with the CoP.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

The LD has revoked the licenses of five employment agencies, including Alim Prima, from 2020 to the end of April this year.    

For enquiries about matters related to employment agencies or complaints about alleged malpractices, call the Employment Agencies Administration at 2115 3667, or visit its office at Unit 906, 9/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, 1 Mong Kok Road, Kowloon.

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.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

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.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

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.” 

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

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