HK suspends PAL, Turkish Air flights for carrying 6 infected passengers

By Vir B. Lumicao

3 PAL passengers tested positive for a variant on arrival in HK

Hong Kong has barred flights by Philippine Airlines from Manila and Turkish Airlines from Istanbul after the two airlines each carried three passengers on Friday who tested positive for Covid-19 with the L452R mutated strain on arrival test. All were asymptomatic.

The two-week ban is activated when at least three passengers on the same flight test positive for a coronavirus variant on arrival in Hong Kong, or five on different flights within a week.  

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Today’s tally also included a seventh traveler, a 68-year-old man who returned from London last Wednesday, and who was also found to carry the variant.

All the new patients have been fully vaccinated, the Centre for Health Protection said.

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The infected arrivals from the Philippines were made up of a female domestic helper and two Hong Kong residents, a man and a woman.

All three Filipinos arrived on Aug 27 on PAL flight PR300, said a government information staff.

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The helper, aged 45, received her two BioNTech doses in Hong Kong on Mar 23 and Apr 16 before taking a vacation.

The two other Filipinos, a 45-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman, both had their two doses of the Sinovac jab in Hong Kong on Mar 3 and 31.

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They all tested negative before departing Manila but samples collected from them upon arrival at the Hong Kong International Airport returned positive results on Saturday.

The new arrivals from Istanbul, a man and two women, flew in aboard flight TK083 also on Aug 27.

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The man, 35, received BioNTech jabs in Hong Kong on May 8 and May 31. The women, aged 22 and 66, also received the BioNTech vaccine in the United Kingdom on Jun 27 and Jul 22.

Turkish Air also carried 3 passengers with the mutant virus

Meanwhile, the man who came from the UK left HK on Aug 15 and returned on Aug 25,  

He received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in HK on Apr 13 and May 4.

Although he developed symptoms on his arrival in HK his specimen tested negative for Covid-19. He was found to carry the mutant strain on his third day of quarantine at Best Western Hotel in Causeway Bay.

As he was in HK partly during the incubation period, his residential block in Sunrise, Discovery Bay and places he visited have been put under compulsory testing notice.

The CHP is also investigating a re-positive overseas case, a woman aged 29 who was carrying the L452R mutant strain.

The CHP said she traveled to the UK, Spain and Portugal since the end of June and returned to Hong Kong on Aug 19 on flight EK384. Specimen collected from her upon arrival at the airport tested negative.

The patient received two doses of BioNTech vaccine on Mar 18 and Apr 8 in Hong Kong. Her blood sample collected on Jun 23 was positive for antibodies.

She stayed in a designated quarantine hotel from Aug 19 to 25 and moved to her residence at 208 Shek O Village, afterwards.

Her specimen collected on Aug 27 at a community testing centre was found to carry the L452R strain of the coronavirus.
 
The patient reportedly said she had symptoms in early August and tested positive for Covid-19 in Portugal. She went into self-isolation and tested negative before leaving Lisbon. She was asymptomatic. The CHP classified her as a re-positive overseas case. 
 
Her house in Shek O and places she visited during the incubation period have been included in a compulsory testing notice.

Meanwhile, the operators of two cargo vessels, Asia Energy and Thor Monadic, who were suspected of providing false information to the DH in applying for free pratique, or permission to make a port call after showing a clean bill of health, were reported to the police.

CHP said its investigation is ongoing.

Fifteen of 17 patients confirmed on Friday are sea crew of Thor Monadic, a Singapore-flagged vessel that arrived in Hong Kong waters on Aug 24 from Indonesia. All tested positive for the L452R mutant strain of the coronavirus.  

On the other hand, Asia Energy, an oil tanker which arrived from South Korea on Aug 8, was found to carry a 38-year-old male crew member who developed symptoms on July 12, but was confirmed positive only on Aug 10, two days after the vessel arrived in HK. 

The vessel is still anchored off Lamma Island under quarantine, the DH staff said. 

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New infection surge pushes Phl’s total Covid-19 cases to 1.95 m

By The SUN 

Seniors line up for Covid-19 jabs in Quezon City amid the spike in infections (PNA photo)

The Philippines posted 18,528 cases of Covid-19 infections on Sunday, its second highest daily tally.

The highest daily increase of 19,441 was recorded only the day before.

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The country’s total tally now stands at 1,954,023 according to figures from the Department of Health. Of these, 143,221 or 7.3% are active cases.

The number would have been higher, had seven laboratories managed to submit their reports on time. DOH data show these facilities contributed around 2.7% of all samples tested and 2.1 % of positive cases over the past two weeks.

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Most of those sick, or 95.3%, have only mild symptoms; 2% are asymptomatic, 1% are moderate cases, 1.1% are severe cases and 0.6% are critical.

Another 101 patients succumbed to the disease, raising the death toll to 33,109.

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But the number of recoveries went up to 1,777, 693 after an additional 17,922 were cleared of infection.

The daily positivity rate, or the percentage of those found infected among all people tested, also continued to rise past the critical level of 20%. Of the 66,225 people tested on Aug 27, 27.9% were found infected.

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This means there is a drastic need to test more people, as the World Health Organization says the positivity rate in any area should be below 3% to be able to say sufficient testing has been conducted.

Meanwhile, the DOH confirmed the discovery of 711 new cases of four coronavirus variants Sunday. Of these, 516 carried Delta, 73 had Alpha, 81 Beta, and 41 the P.3 variant.

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The results came from 748 samples submitted to the UP-Philippine Genome Centre by 67 laboratories and various collecting institutions.

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Alaala ng maligayang bakasyon

Noralyn dela Cruz

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*Naghahanap ka man ng pag-ibig, nang-aakit ka man ng lalaki, o gustong maging tapat ito sa iyo, o gusto mong ikaw ang ikasal sa halip na maging abay lang sa kasal, kung gusto mong may pagbabago ng saloobin ang iyong amo sa kabaitan, at maging kaakit-akit sa paningin ng lahat... 

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Philippines posts new daily high of 19,441 Covid-19 cases

By The SUN 

Metro Manila will remain under MECQ because of the record spike in cases

The Philippines has posted its highest ever daily tally of Covid-19 cases, with 19,441 new infections recorded on Saturday.

It’s the third time this month that the country has posted a record daily tally. The last time was only five days ago, when over 18,000 cases were recorded.

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The record spike in cases prompted the national government to extend the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila until Sept 7.

Like Metro Manila, the provinces of Bataan and Laguna will be under MECQ with additional restrictions on dining, personal care services and religious activities for the next 10 days.

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Under regular MECQ are Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Bulacan, Cavite, Lucena City, Rizal, Aklan, Iloilo Province, Iloilo City, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu City, Mandaue City, and Cagayan de Oro City.

The newly confirmed cases pushed up the country’s total tally to 1,935,700, with 7.4% of them or 142,679 active cases.

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The daily count did not include results from three laboratories which failed to make the cut-off time for reporting.

An overwhelming number, or 95.5% of the patients have mild symptoms, 1.8% are asymptomatic, 1.1% have severe symptoms, 0.99 are moderately ill, while 0.6% are in critical condition.

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The death toll climbed up to 33,008 after 167 more people succumbed to the disease within the past 24 hours.

But the total recoveries were up, too, with 19,191 patients being declared free of the coronavirus. This raised the total number of recoveries to 1,790,013, or 90.9% of the total infections.

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The so-called positivity rate, or the percentage of people from among those tested who return positive results, also rose to a new record high of 27.5% of the 71,620 who were tested Friday.

This is the 20^th straight day that the rate has been over the indicated critical level of 20% of those tested, highlighting the need to do more testing.

According to the standard set by the World Health Organization, the positivity rate should be below 5% to declare that the infection in a place is under control.

More testing is needed as shown by the country's high positivity rate

With the continuing surge in new cases, almost half of Metro Manila cities have reported over 70% hospital bed utilization rate, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

"Dito po sa National Capital Region, ang utilization po ng ating mga ospital, mayroon tayo almost 50% of our cities na iyong bed utilization po nila ay nasa more than 70% na," she said during a press briefing.

(Here in the National Capital Region, for hospital utilization, almost 50% of our cities have more than 70% bed utilization already.)

She added that intensive care units in all but six cities in the NCR have breached the 70% utilization rate.

Vergeire said the government will take measures to expand bed capacity — including setting up tents and modular hospitals in critical areas.

DOH figures as of Aug 27 show that Metro Manila had the highest tally of new infections in the past 14 days with 48,469, followed by Calabarzon with 37,940, and Central Luzon with 22,708.

Cavite was the top province with the most new cases in the same period with 15,355, followed by Laguna with 10,626, and Bulacan with 9,445.

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Filipina DH with variant among 6 new Covid-19 cases

By Daisy CL Mandap 

The Filipina DH flew in from Manila on Aug 24 (File)

A returning Filipina domestic helper who was fully vaccinated in Hong Kong is one of six new cases of Covid-19 confirmed today, Aug 28. All are imported, and except for a baby on the list, all were asymptomatic.

Health Department staff said the 38-year-old Filipina arrived on Aug 24 via Cathay Pacific flight CX918. She tested negative before leaving Manila and on arrival in Hong Kong.

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However, her third day sample while in quarantine at Ramada Harbour View Hotel in Sai Ying Pun tested positive for Covid-19 and also showed she carried the L452R mutant strain.

She had two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on Jun 5 and 26.

Also among the confirmed patients is a five-month old baby girl who came from Azerbaijan on Aug 23 and showed symptoms the next day while at a quarantine centre. She was taken there after her 24-year-old mother tested positive for Covid-19.

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Both had flown in via Qatar Air flight QR 818 from Doha which has been suspended from flying to Hong Kong for two weeks after the mother’s positive test, and two other passengers not complying with boarding requirements.

The baby was taken to a quarantine center after her mother tested positive on Thursday

Two other passengers were fully vaccinated but were also found to carry the L452R strain.

One is a 53-year-old man from the United States who flew in via CX 845 and tested positive on arrival at Hong Kong airport. He received two jabs of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on Mar 17 and Apr 17.

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The second one is a 35-year-old man who arrived from the United Arab Emirates on Aug 24 via CX 746 and tested positive on his third-day sample at Mira Moon Hotel in Causeway Bay. He was fully inoculated in the United Kingdom with the BioNTech vaccine on Jul 3 and Aug 24.

The two other passengers have pending test result for the presence of variants.

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One is a 19-year-old male patient who flew in from Belgium via flight LH796 and tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival in Hong Kong. He was fully vaccinated in Belgium with the single-dose Johson and Johnson vaccine on Jun 28.

The last is an 18-year-old male who came from Myanmar and tested positive on his third-day test while in quarantine at Dorsett Hotel in Mong Kok. There is no record of him being vaccinated.

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The new confirmed cases brought Hong Kong’s total Covid tally to 12,101.

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Non-FDH Filipinos left out of vaccination recognition deal

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Non-FDH residents, students, dependants who were vaccinated in the Phl still can't enter HK 

Filipino residents and other non-migrant workers who received their vaccinations in the Philippines are clamoring for help, after being told that the deal announced yesterday allowing the entry of foreign domestic helpers into Hong Kong does not include them.

Consul General Raly Tejada immediately sought to allay their concerns, saying they were brought directly to the Hong Kong government earlier today, Aug 27.

“Kinausap po natin kanina lang si Chief Executive Carrie Lam para naman sa mga residente at workers na may visa. Nakinig naman po. So tingnan natin,” he said in reply to an online query.

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(We spoke earlier today with Chief Executive Carrie Lam on behalf of our residents and workers with visa. She listened to us, so let’s see).

Many residents became anxious after realizing that only FDHs were included in the plan to allow those who got vaccinated in the Philippines and have the “yellow card” from the Bureau of Quarantine to prove it, to start entering Hong Kong from Monday.

No mention was made in yesterday’s announcement of the deal by either the Hong Kong government or the Philippine Consulate about how the recognition of the yellow card could benefit other visa-holders traveling from the Philippines.

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Earlier, Consul Paul Saret said in an interview with The SUN that only FDHs were covered in their talks with the Hong Kong government on vaccine recognition.

ConGen Tejada confirmed this when he said in an online message: “Our understanding is that the current system only applies to FDHs arriving from the Philippines.”

CG Tejada has relayed the residents' concerns directly to CE Lam

The revelation caused an uproar among non-migrant workers who have been stuck in the Philippines even before Hong Kong imposed a flight ban on Apr 20 this year.

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Among them is Pearl Castro, who told The SUN she and a colleague have been stranded for nine months in the Philippines, after they decided to take a break when they lost their jobs in Hong Kong in February.

Castro said she was desperate to fly back to Hong Kong as she wanted to be with her 20-year-old daughter again, and take up a job she was assured of on her return.

She wrote an emotional appeal to the Consulate, asking for help in being allowed to come back to Hong Kong.

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“Gusto ko lang po malaman bakit hindi nakasama ang mga residente ng Hong Kong na makabalik diyan, Pilipino pa rin po kami. Siyam na buwan na po kaming nandito sa Pilipinas, gusto ko na pong magtrabaho sa Hong Kong dahil kawawa at naghihirap na po kami dito sa bansa,” she said in an email.

(I just want to know why Hong Kong residents are not being allowed to return, we are also Filipinos. We have been stuck here in the Philippines for nine months, I just want to go back to work in Hong Kong because we are experiencing hardship here in our country).

Another query came from Leleen Tan, who said she holds a dependant visa, and was wondering if her yellow card fell into the category of “vaccination records of a county with a bilateral recognition with Hong Kong” as provided in the government website.

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While this category was used to recognize the vaccination records of FDHs, it does not appear to have been extended to yellow cards held by residents, dependants, students and other employment visa holders.

This poses a dilemma, too, for Peggy Lua, whose son is supposed to be traveling soon to Hong Kong on student visa.

On top of worrying about the long queue for the yellow card and the difficulty of booking a quarantine hotel for her son, Lua now has to contend with the lack of a clear direction on how vaccinated non-FDHs can enter Hong Kong.

The yellow card continues to elude many HK-bound Filipinos

Vaccine recognition is also a problem with other categories of Filipinos who are anxious to fly to Hong Kong soon.

They include FDHs who got vaccinated in countries they used to work in, like Bahrain and United Arab Emirates, and are unable to take up their jobs in Hong Kong because they cannot get the BOQ certificate.

Another group is made up of those who received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in an overseas country, and the second in the Philippines.

One of them said she was told at the BOQ that she could not be given a yellow card, but just a certification paper because she did not get both jabs in the Philippines.

The problems appear endless, and could only be resolved with a comprehensive and more compassionate agreement on finally allowing all with the right to live and work in Hong Kong, to return immediately.

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