PAL flies home last batch of 88 stranded workers

By Vir B. Lumicao 

OWWA Welfare Officer Virsie Tamayao (with black mask) was among those who saw the stranded passengers off

A long and frustrating wait by the remaining 88 stranded Filipino workers in Hong Kong ended today, June 1, when they were flown home by Philippine Airlines, the carrier that had cancelled their bookings repeatedly.

At 10:30am, the last two of the passengers were escorted into the departure gate by officers from the Consulate, who made sure all the stranded workers with valid PAL tickets who were at the Hong Kong International Airport were boarded.

“We’ll make sure that no one will be left behind, whether they have registered with OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) or not,” said Consul Robert Quintin, chief of the PCG’s cultural section.

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Quintin said PAL deployed a smaller aircraft for Flight PR301 that carried a total of 150 passengers. He said the stranded workers made up the bulk of those passengers.

He and Arnel de Luna, officer of the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section, walked up to the departure gate with the last few passengers and the Hong Kong ground staff who checked them in.  

On May 26, a total of 150 workers flew home after the PCG, via the Department of Foreign Affairs, asked the Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid Control to increase PAL’s daily passenger arrival quota at Ninoy Aquino International Airport so it could fly them home.

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As in the earlier batch, there were Chinese employers who went to the airport along with their children to send off their departing workers.

One employing family, surnamed Fu, assisted their helper Junnalee Villasotes as she checked in to make sure she had not forgotten anything.

“Junnalee was part of our family. She had been with us for more than 10 years,” said Idason Fu, who said she was still small when Villasotes moved in with the family.

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“I didn’t go to work today so I can send her off. I will be missing her because she took care of me. She’s a family member,” said the young woman.

Idason (rightmost) skipped work to join her parents in seeing off her beloved nanny, Junnalee

Like their daughter, the Fu couple said they would miss the helper because she was very good and trustworthy.

“We like her very much. We trust her. I and my husband went to work everyday and Junnalee took care of our daughter until she grew up and she looked after our house,” Mrs Fu said. “Oh, she also took care of our pet dog,” she added.

Villasotes said it was time for her to be with her family as her three children need her, too.

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One local family including a grandfather saw off their tearful helper until the departure gate, with the female employer helping her scan her passport at the electronic turnstile. The Filipina said she had served the family for 16 years but the children had grown up.

Another local family with two toddlers queued up with the helper as she sorted out her pre-boarding documents at the check-in counter.

Some of the stranded workers who were able to fly home even without confirming their booking with OWWA or PAL had staked out at Hong Kong International Airport since Monday hoping to set a seat on the flight.

Geraldine said that after two cancellations, she was confirmed for Tuesday’s flight but PAL called her last night and told her the flight was full.

At 10am, she waited in the queue while De Luna interceded with the check-in staff for Geraldine and about five other passengers who were not booked for today.

“Nandito na kami kasi sa airport kahapon pa at nagbabaka-sakaling maisakay kami. Hindi na kami nakadaan sa OWWA,” the helper said. (We’ve been here at the airport since yesterday hoping we’d be boarded. We had no more time to drop in at OWWA.)

With her was Elisa, a worker who said she had been in Hong Kong for a total of 27 years, serving her last employer for the past quarter-century.

A farmer’s wife, she said she was going home for good because two of her sons are now engineers, the older one being 31 years old. Her employer has given her long service pay, she said, so she has something to start a small business.

At 10:15 am, Geraldine and Elisa were issued boarding passes for the 11:25am flight. They hurried to the departure gate and joined their fellow stranded workers in waiting for the boarding call.

The workers had been stuck here for several months due to repeated flight cancellations that the airline blamed on outside factors such as the pandemic-related lockdowns in Metro Manila and Hong Kong’s ban on flights from Manila and other countries.

Consulate officers led by Quintin (in white shirt) escorted the passengers up to the boarding gates

Originally, over 400 had registered with OWWA for flights that the PCG would arrange. But, frustrated by months of waiting, many eventually bought tickets on other carriers.

Quintin said the flight this morning practically wiped out the backlog of stranded workers. “We’ll begin from zero until we have a need for another special flight,” he said.

Quintin led a team of PCG, OWWA, Philippine Overseas Labor Office and Social Welfare officers who worked until midnight on Monday contacting the passengers and finalizing the roster. Then they woke up early to go to the airport and assist the workers with last-minute documentation.

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5 Indonesian DHs test positive for Covid-19, triggers airline ban

By Daisy CL Mandap 

The ban on Garuda Indonesia will last from Jun 2 to 15

Indonesia’s flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, has been suspended from flying to Hong Kong for 14 days starting Jun 2,  after four of its passengers tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival in the city on May 30. The airline ban is imposed if at least three passengers on board are found infected on arrival tests.

Three of the four Garuda passengers, all domestic helpers, were also found to carry the N501Y variant, while a test on the fourth is still pending, according to staff of the Centre for Health Protection. The Indonesians are aged 27, 34, 37 and 39.

A fifth Indonesian DH, aged 29, who flew in separately on May 28 aboard Cathay Pacific flight CX 2780 also tested positive for the coronavirus disease during quarantine at Metropark Hotel in Kowloon. She was found to carry the newly listed variant of concern, L452Y, said the CHP staff.

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Indonesia now faces the risk of being categorized as an “extremely high risk” place and subject to a flight ban, which is triggered when a total of five people flying in from one place within a seven-day period are found to carry the mutant virus on arrival in Hong Kong.

It also takes effect when a total of 10 travelers from the same place are found to carry a variant, either on arrival or during quarantine, within the same week-long period.

The five Indonesian DHs were among seven new Covid-19 cases reported today, all but one of them imported.

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Rounding up the six imported cases today is a 55-year-old female traveler from United Arab Emirates who tested positive after developing symptoms on May 30 while under quarantine at Mandarin Hotel Landmark. She was also found to carry the L452Y variant.

Chuang says the police officer was found to be highly infectious in his first sample, but tested negative later

The sole local case is a 35-year-old police officer assigned to the Wan Chai Police headquarters who was reported as preliminary positive yesterday. The source of his infection is unknown.

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His case ended Hong Kong’s 38-day record of no untraceable Covid-19 case.

The case has triggered concern because his first specimen sample submitted to a private clinic showed he had a high viral load, but repeat tests at the hospital did not detect any sign of the virus, or antibodies suggesting an old infection.

According to CHP’s Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, the patient’s family members all tested negative for the virus.

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“For the time being, we will consider this as a local case with no unknown source,” Chuang said.

She declined to speculate on whether the case is another false positive one, like in at least two previous cases where environmental contamination was found to have been behind the false reading.

One worked in a laboratory that processed test results for Covid-19 while the other was a nurse who helped administer the Sinovac jabs in a community vaccination centre.

“For this particular case we have no further explanation,” Chuang said.

The officer reportedly developed cough and sore throat while at home in Yau Tong on Friday, so he sought medical treatment at a private clinic the next day. The sample taken by the clinic from him showed a very low CT value, meaning he was highly infectious.

During the incubation period he accompanied arrested persons to the Wan Chai police station on May 21, and on the 24^th and 28^th, took suspected illegal immigrants to the Lai Chi Kok Detention Centre.

Chuang said the officer’s case indicates that there is still a silent transmission that is going on.

“Hopefully, this will not cause further spread in the community,” she said.

The seven new cases took Hong Kong’s total tally to 11,849.

About five preliminary positive cases have been recorded as of midnight last night. 

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Real-name registration for SIM cards to start March next year

By The SUN              

 

Annoyed by calls from unknown people offering all sorts of services and products, from dodgy investment schemes to suspicious loan offers? This soon-to-be implemented law could put an end to all those pesky calls or text messages.

A statement released by the government today, June 1, said a new law that will make it mandatory for telephone companies to start registering the real names of people buying SIM (subscriber identity module) cards will take effect starting in September this year.

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However, real-name registration for all SIM card users will start only on Mar 1 next year, to give time to telephone companies to set up the registration system. Registration is required for all users of stored-value SIM cards and those with service plans.

Those who use stored-value cards will have until Feb 23, 2023 to register their real names with their service provider while those on monthly service plans need not re-register their personal details with their service provider.

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However, they will have to register their names and other personal information if they switch to another telephone company or get a new number.

Mobile phone companies will be given six months to set up the registration system for all their customers using person-to-person calling service starting in September this year.

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The statement said the measure seeks to prevent and detect crimes related to the use of pre-paid SIM cards. It comes after a seven-week public consultation that started in January this year showed that over 70% of stakeholders support the registration program.

But after reviewing suggestions and comments by the respondents, the government said it further refined the bill to include a relaxation of the cap on the number of SIM cards that each individual or business users could register.

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For individual users, the limit has been increased to 10 cards, instead of the previous three; while registered businesses can register up to 25 cards.

 For details of the Registration Programme, please visit the website: www.cedb.gov.hk/ccib/en/legco-business/document/LegCo%20Brief%20SIM_EN.pdf.

 

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Flight ban on Philippines stays

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Flights coming from the Philippines can only bring in cargo and not passengers

The result of Hong Kong’s periodic review of boarding and quarantine requirements for travelers from overseas has just been released, showing no changes for those arriving from countries specified as “extremely high risk,” including the Philippines.

This means that no travelers who had stayed for at least two hours from countries in the Group A1 category will still be barred from entering Hong Kong. Apart from the Philippines, the countries on flight ban status are India, Nepal, Pakistan, Brazil and South Africa.

The news should come as a big disappointment to an estimated 3,000 Filipino migrant workers who have been waiting to fly to Hong Kong to start on their jobs since the flight ban was imposed on Apr 20.

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It should be frustrating as well to about 250,000 other Filipinos in Hong Kong who are unable to fly home for a vacation or emergency reasons because of the uncertainty of when they could return to their jobs and homes here.

The restrictions are extremely harsh for those who intend to fly in from the countries in the A1 category. Anyone who had stayed in any of these countries for at least two hours, within 21 days prior to the intended flight date, will not be allowed to board a flight for Hong Kong.

Those who had exceeded the 21-day requirement will be relegated to A1 status, meaning they will have to spend 21 days in hotel quarantine, whether vaccinated or not.

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The press statement issued by the government late on Monday only indicated the relaxation of travel restrictions for the United Kingdom, which has been upgraded to the Group B (high risk) from A2 status (very high risk).

This means that from Jun 4, all fully vaccinated travelers from the UK, like others in the Group B category such as Indonesia, will now be required to quarantine in a hotel for 14 days, from the previous 21 days.

All unvaccinated travelers from this designated category will still have to spend 21 days in hotel quarantine.

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But vaccinated or not, they will still have to submit a negative test result obtained within 72 hours before boarding. In addition, those who spent only 14 days in quarantine will be subjected to three tests during their two-week quarantine, followed by a seven-day self-monitoring period, as well as compulsory testing on the 16th and 19th day of arrival at Hong Kong.

Only Ireland remains in the A2 status, meaning travelers from this country will have to quarantine for 21 days in a hotel, vaccinated or not.

At the same time, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam were relegated to Group B, with the government statement saying that this was because “of the persistent unstable epidemic situation in the region, as well as the prevalent transmission of cases involving the more transmissible and potentially more serious mutant virus strains.”

3 Asian countries are now down to B status because of 'unstable' Covid situation in region

As for the UK, which was moved up to Group A2 status from A1 only on May 7, the easing of restrictions was said to be due to the country’s rising vaccination rate and the absence of new imported cases from among its travelers.

"The government will continue to closely monitor the epidemic situation of various places, the prevalence of new virus variants, vaccination progress, and changes in the volume of cross-boundary passenger traffic, and will adjust the boarding and compulsory quarantine requirements for persons arriving at Hong Kong from relevant places as the situation warrants," the statement said.

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With Hong Kong struggling to remain infection-free, meaning, not having any local case with unknown sources, lifting the flight ban on countries it considers as extremely high risk is not likely to come anytime soon.

While the Philippines has not experienced the unprecedented surge in cases as in India, where the total tally in the past two weeks was an incredible 3.08 million, Filipinos make up the biggest number of patients found to have brought in the highly feared coronavirus variant into Hong Kong.

The Philippines’ two-week tally is 79,664 cases while Indonesia, in comparison, has nearly the same number, at 76,291 cases. However, most Indonesians who test positive for Covid-19 after arriving in Hong Kong do not carry the variant, which experts say could be 70 times more infectious than the common strain.

South Africa, where the variant carried by most infected Filipinos was first found, is now down to a two-week tally of 45,342 cases. But Brazil, another earlier source of the mutated virus, still has a raging infection going on, with its 14-day total remaining at 887,877 cases.

Details on the grouping of specified places and their respective boarding and compulsory quarantine requirements can be found at www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/high-risk-places.html.

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HK may ban unvaccinated people from certain places in case of 5th wave

By The SUN 

Hong Kong officials step up the campaign to get more people to take a Covid jab (RTHK photo)

Officials led by Chief Executive Carrie Lam have renewed calls for more people to get inoculated, warning that those who haven’t gone for a coronavirus jab may be barred from restaurants, schools and other venues should a fifth wave of Covid-19 hits Hong Kong.

Speaking at a press conference earlier today, May 31, CE Lam said the government needs to be fair to those who have done their part in helping keeping the city safe from the coronavirus.

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“I hope people who have yet to take the jab will also realize that we need them to participate in order to be fair to all those who have taken a jab hitherto, so that all of us together could reach a higher level of vaccination rate that would keep the city safe,” she said.

But she was quick to add that people who are “medically unfit” to get vaccinated will be exempted from the disparate treatment.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan said the possible restriction could apply not just in restaurants and schools but also student hostels, construction sites, cinemas, libraries and performance and sports venues. 

She also cited the benefits from the so-called “vaccine bubble” where social distancing measures are  relaxed for inoculated people and previously closed businesses can now operate for longer hours.

 

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Under the so-called "travel bubble," vaccinated people will also be able to cross borders more easily when other countries open up for travel.

Lam said the next three months will be crucial to the government’s campaign to fight the coronavirus epidemic if Hong Kong has to revive its economy and return to normal.

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Lam, who led her officials at the launch of the “Early Vaccination for All” initiative, took off her mask before the media for the first time in several months as she affirmed her government’s determination to halt the spread of the virus.

She noted that the last time a local case was identified was on Apr 25, or 37 days ago. But she said health authorities are investigating a preliminary positive case that shows it is difficult to prevent local infection. She said this calls for boosting the vaccination rate.

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“We seek to substantially boost the inoculation rate to create effective immunity in the community so that we can return to normality as soon as possible. We hope that before September, we’ll be able to get results,” the Chief Executive said.

“In other words, we can substantially increase the vaccination rate so that with the arrival of the fifth wave of the epidemic, different sectors of the community will not be affected, and we’ll have a million children in school and we hope by September they will be able return to classrooms.”

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The Chief Executive said new directions in fighting the epidemic that she announced on Apr 12 are still in force to keep the situation stable as various sectors return to business.

First, the government will remain vigilant and continue to impose certain measures to prevent the entry of imported cases, Lam said.

CE Lam says vaccination en masse is the only way out of the epidemic (File)

“The only solution to effectively find a way out of the epidemic is to appeal to the public to be inoculated en masse so as to create an effective safeguard,” Lam said, citing the significant drop in cases and deaths in countries with high inoculation rates.

The CE said she had written to hundreds of property developers and other companies to enlist them in offering perks to the public to encourage them to get inoculated to raise the city’s vaccination rate within the next three months.

Among those that have responded to the call is the MTR Corporation, which separately announced a plan to give away 500 annual train tickets with unlimited rides as an incentive to vaccinated residents.

The lucky ones who will be picked in the lucky draw can take unlimited MTR rides in one year, but the privilege will not be extended to the Airport Express, MTR feeder buses, the long trips to Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau, and first-class fares. Details will be announced later.

Earlier, property developers announced a lottery aimed at boosting the vaccination rate, where the grand prize is a flat worth $10.8 million. Twenty cards topped up with $100,000 each will also be given away to lucky vaccinated applicants.

Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip also confirmed plans to give government employees a one-day vaccine holiday for each Covid jab that they take.

Dr Thomas Tsang, former Centre for Health Protection comptroller and a government advisor on Covid-19 vaccines, assured people about the effects of the vaccines, saying there is public misunderstanding about why some people died after vaccination.

He said an expert committee comprising medical experts and university professors who looked into 20 post-vaccination deaths said the fatalities mostly suffered cardiac arrest.

In fact, he said about 120 people die every day in Hong Kong hospitals, but their deaths are not reported as the media focus more on the effects of the vaccines.     

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Two DHs among HK’s four new imported Covid-19 cases

By Vir B. Lumicao

One of the 2 domestic helpers who tested positive today flew in from the Netherlands

Hong Kong health officials reported four new confirmed coronavirus cases today, May 31. All of them are imported, and included two domestic helpers.

The Centre for Health Protection is also investigating the case of a male police officer, 35, who tested preliminary positive. If confirmed, he would be Hong Kong’s first local case in more than a week.

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The new cases took the number of Covid-19 patients in Hong Kong to 11,842.

A Department of Health staff said one of the FDHs arrived on May 21 from Indonesia on Cathay Pacific flight CX798.

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She tested negative on arrival at the airport but was found infected on her seventh day in hotel quarantine.  Tests are still being carried out to determine if she has the mutated strain of the virus.

The other helper, aged 31, whose nationality was not determined, flew in from the Netherlands on KLM flight KL819 on May 29, the DH staff said.

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Another imported case involves a 38-year-old woman who arrived from Seoul on a Korean Airlines KE607 flight on May 29 and was confirmed to have the virus the next day.

The fourth is a 40-year-old Indian man who arrived on Apr 18 from his home country but was found positive of Covid-19 in a hospital where he was confined due to underlying illness, the DH staff said.

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The man was a travel companion of a 53-year-old Indian woman who was confirmed to have Covid-19 on Apr 19.

On his arrival in Hong Kong, the man was taken to Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre where he stayed from April 18 to May 9 as a close contact of the female passenger. All tests done on him during this period turned out negative.

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After quarantine, the unemployed man moved to his flat at Shing Fu House, Kwai Shing East Estate, Kwai Chung. He went for a test at a community testing center on May 13 and the result was negative.

On May 29 he was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital for an underlying illness. A pre-admission test for Covid-19 done on him had an inconclusive result. But later he tested positive for antibodies, suggesting an old infection.

The CHP has issued a compulsory testing notice for his residential block in Kwai Chung as a safety measure. Those who had stayed in the building for at least two hours should undergo testing by June 2.

The officer who tested preliminary positive works at the Wan Chai Police HQ

Meanwhile, the officer who tested preliminary positive works at the Wan Chai Police Headquarters on Arsenal Street and lives at Wai Mei House at Yau Mei Court, Yau Tong.

The CHP said the officer developed sore throat, cough and runny nose on May 28 and visited a private medical practitioner on May 29. His deep throat saliva sample taken on May 30 tested positive.

CHP is conducting further investigations and contact tracing. As a safety precaution, the Wanchai police headquarters and Wai Mei House will be included in the compulsory testing notice today. People who were in those buildings are required to undergo testing by June 2.

The CHP said a total of 13 cases have been reported in the past 14 days, from May 17 to 30, all of them imported cases.

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