Filipina driver in fatal car crash granted bail

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Magsino was in police custody before her court appearance (TheStandard photo)

A 44-year-old Filipina domestic helper charged with dangerous driving causing death after Friday night's deadly car crash in Central was granted $10,000 cash bail when she appeared in Eastern Court today, Dec. 13.

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Reshielle L. Magsino looked calm and answered in the affirmative when asked if she understood the charge against her as read out to her by a Tagalog interpreter before Principal Magistrate Ada Yim.

No plea was taken and the magistrate adjourned the case to Apr 7 after allowing the defendant’s bail application.

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According to the charge, the car that Magsino had been driving had caused the death of 27-year-old Elovie Ma on Dec 10, at about 8:00pm, on Staunton Street corner Peel Street in Central.

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The prosecution did not oppose bail for Magsino, but requested for more time to conduct further investigation.

The magistrate agreed to the adjournment and told Magsino that apart from posting bail, she was required to submit her travel document to the court, not to leave Hong Kong and remain in the Deepwater Bay address she had indicated, and report to the Aberdeen Police Station every Sunday, from 6pm to 9pm.

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If she planned to move to another address, she must inform the police at least 24 hours before.

Police reports earlier indicated that Magsino had parked the small private car she was driving on a slope on Peel Street, then got off with a female passenger.

Photo posted at the scene day after the crash

A dash cam video of the incident then showed the car rolling down backwards at a fast clip, hitting a group of people gathered at the corner with Staunton Street, before coming to a rest on the pavement in front of a concrete flight of stairs.

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Eight people were reportedly injured in the incident, with Ma and a fellow woman with French nationality who she was chatting with being listed in critical condition after they were taken to Queen Mary Hospital. Police said Ma was pinned under the car and suffered head and body injuries.

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Ma passed away at 6:35pm on Saturday, while the other woman remained in critical condition. Another man was also in hospital while the rest had been discharged after treatment.

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2 Filipina DHs among 5 new Covid-19 cases

By The SUN

 

One of the Filipinas tested indeterminate at Rambler hotel, so she was moved to a hospital  

Two Filipina domestic helpers, including one who tested positive in hospital after her tests during quarantine were indeterminate, were among five new coronavirus patients reported by Hong Kong health officials today, Dec 12.

The three others, two males and one female, all came from the United Kingdom.

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The new patients took Hong Kong’s total confirmed Covid-19 toll to 12,489, including one probable case.

The Filipinas arrived from Manila via Cebu Pacific flight 5J272 on Dec 2 and Nov 22, respectively.

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The first helper, aged 29, was asymptomatic upon arrival and went to Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre, where was found positive for Covid-19 on her ninth-day test. But her viral load was insufficient for mutant testing.

She received two doses of the Sinovac vaccine in the Philippines on Apr 8 and May 6, the Centre for Health Protection said. 

The other helper, aged 34, was taken to a hospital after her ninth test while in quarantine at Rambler Garden Hotel in Tsing Yi had an indeterminate result.

Further tests done while she was in hospital showed she was positive for the L452R mutant strain of the coronavirus.

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The helper received two doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in the Philippines on Jun 22 and Sept 14.

The other new cases are a 62-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman who both arrived on Cathay Pacific flight CX252 from London on Dec 10. They tested positive at the Hong Kong International Airport with the N501Y mutant strain. 

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The man had his two jabs of BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on Jul 1 and Jul 22, while the woman received two doses of the same vaccine in the SAR on Jun 24 and Jul 15.

A 14-year-old boy who arrived on Dec 9 via a CX252 flight from London tested positive for the coronavirus with the L452R mutant strain. He had one jab of BioNTech on Jul 6.

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A total of 59 cases have been reported in the past 14 days to Dec 11, all of them imported.

The Hospital Authority said 67 confirmed patients are being treated in the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre and the HA Infectious Disease Centre. 

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One of those patients, an 80-year-old man who arrived in Hong Kong via CX829 from Canada on Nov 24, is in serious condition. The rest are in stable condition.

The CHP’s epidemiological investigations and relevant contact tracing on the confirmed cases are ongoing. For case details and contact tracing information, please see the Annex or the "COVID-19 Thematic Website" (www.coronavirus.gov.hk).

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BioNTech 32 times weaker in killing Omicron variant, study shows

By The SUN 

BioNTech offers much less protection against Omicron than with the regular Covid-19

The BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus may be much less effective against the Omicron variant of the virus but is still likely to prevent death and severe diseases, according to a joint study by Hong Kong’s top two universities.

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A similar study is being conducted using the Sinovac vaccine, but experts say the protection should be even less, given that the antibody levels in those who received this vaccine were lower than those who had BioNTech. 

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The study released earlier today, Dec 12, makes the case for a booster jab for everyone in Hong Kong to protect them against the latest Covid-19 variant, said David Hui, one of the government’s advisers on its pandemic strategy.

Hui is with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which conducted the joint medical research with the University of Hong Kong. Their study showed that BioNTech is 32 times weaker in killing the Omicron variant than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Hui says the study shows why it is important to get a booster shot

The team collected blood samples from 10 people one month after they received their second dose of the BioNTech vaccine, the time when the highest level of antibodies was expected.

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They then tested the samples against the original form of the coronavirus, and on the Omicron variant which was isolated from the first patient found to have carried it into Hong Kong.

The results showed the vaccine’s virus-killing potency was a lot weaker against the Omicron than with the original Covid-19.

 

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“We can see that most individuals had high levels of virus killing (neutralization) activity against the original SARS-CoV-2 but this ability was markedly reduced by 32 folds or more against the Omicron variant,” Professor Malik Peiris, who led the study, said in a press release today. 

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The experts said they will also test the effectiveness of booster shots.

They said vaccines are still likely to offer effective protection against death and severe disease, especially for the elderly and those with a compromised immune system or other chronic diseases. They urged these high-risk groups to get booster shots as soon as possible.

Peiris led the research team from the 2 top universities

Meanwhile, Hui said on a radio program on Sunday that with the research findings, the Omicron variant might make it necessary for all residents to get an extra dose.

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A scientific committee under the Department of Health will meet on Dec 23 for experts to discuss whether to make third jabs available to more groups. 

 

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French woman in Central car crash dies of injuries

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Photo showing the badly damaged car hangs on the spot where the crash happened

A 44-year-old Filipina domestic helper is expected to be charged in Eastern Court on Monday with dangerous driving causing death after one of eight people injured in Friday’s car crash in Central died of multiple injuries at 6:35pm today, Dec 11.

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The deceased was one of two French women who were taken to Queen Mary Hospital unconscious and listed in critical condition after the car that the Filipina had parked on Peel Street rolled down backwards, and slammed onto a crowd on busy Staunton Street.

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Police said the two women had been talking on the street when they were hit by the runaway car. Both sustained multiple head and body injuries and were unconscious when rushed to Queen Mary Hospital.

As of Saturday night, the other French woman, who is 31 years old, remained in critical condition at 

the hospital, while a male victim was stable. Five others who sustained various injuries in the freak accident had been discharged after treatment.

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Police said the incident happened at 8:07pm on Friday, shortly after the Filipina had parked the white car on the sloping street and she and her female passenger got off.

The empty car rolled down this sloping road fast, hitting the victims at the junction

The parked vehicle suddenly started moving backwards down the road, and as a video taken from a dash scam showed, accelerated fast before hitting a group of people at the junction with Staunton Street. It came to rest on top of a flight of stairs after hitting a lamppost.

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A police spokeswoman told The SUN that among those hit by the car were four French nationals, two Britons and two local Chinese.

The French woman who died was reportedly caught under the car, and several bystanders had to lift up the vehicle to get her freed.

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It was not immediately clear what had caused the car to roll down the road, although there have been reports that the driver had either failed to engage the hand brake, or did not lift it up properly.

The badly smashed car got stuck on steel railings after plowing through the crowd (RTHK photo)

The female driver was taken into custody initially on suspicion of dangerous driving causing injuries, but the charge will now be upgraded after the death of one of the victims. 

Police said the driver tested negative for alcohol.

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As a result of the crash, a lamppost, a government video camera and some iron fences were damaged.

As of Saturday night, the exact spot where the car had plowed into the crowd had been secured with police tape, and two pictures showing the badly damaged vehicle and the crowd that gathered in the aftermath were left hanging, to serve as a gruesome reminder of what happened.

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Man charged in court over alleged kidnapping of Filipina helper and toddler

By The SUN 

The suspect was charged with kidnapping at Kwun Tong court

A 42-year-old man arrested in connection with the alleged abduction of a 39-year-old Filipina domestic helper and the 19-month-old baby girl in her case appeared in Kwun Tong court this morning, Dec 11.

The suspect, Ho Lin-chun, said to be a manager of a meat store, was charged with kidnapping. His lawyer applied for bail on his behalf but was rejected.

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He was remanded in court until Mar 4 next year, when the case will be transferred to Eastern Court.

The prosecution applied for adjournment, saying the police needed to review some CCTv footage, the defendant’s cell phone records, as well as some DNA test results.

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Ho was arrested on Thursday morning after the Filipina helper who was abducted along with her ward the day before, managed to climb up to the roof of the abandoned shipping container in Pat Heung, Yuen Long where they were held, and shouted for help.

The helper and the toddler were seized by unknown men on Victoria Road at about 8am on Wednesday near her employer’s house at Residence Bel-Air in Pokfulam and bundled into a black car, which then sped towards Cyberport.

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About three hours later, she apparently managed to untie herself after a man left to guard them had left briefly. Villagers who were alerted by her cries for help rescued the two and called the police.

The suspect was arrested at about 5:30am on Thursday in Kwu Tung, Sheung Shui on suspicion of involvement in the kidnapping  

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Police later said they expected to make more arrests.

The alleged victims were found to have “slight redness and swelling on their hands” when found. They were taken to a hospital where they were discharged on the same day after receiving treatment.

The helper’s employer is said to be a Japanese national who runs a sushi restaurant.

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