Govt holds risk reduction talks with Cathay as 8 new Covid-19 cases found

By The SUN

 

There's concern that cargo crew's quarantine exemption may lead to Omicron spread  

Hong Kong health officials are discussing with Cathay Pacific ways to reduce the risks posed by the airline crew’s exemption from quarantine after a cargo pilot was confirmed positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan disclosed the risk reduction talks on local radio today, Dec 19, as the Centre for Health Protection reported eight new Covid-19 patients, six of them possibly carrying the Omicron variant. They were all imported.

“The authorities have taken various measures to detect and prevent community cases. Once relevant cases are found, the area will be locked down for testing,” Chan said.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The health official cited researches showing that Omicron may bypass immunity from past infections or vaccination. She urged the elderly and high-risk groups to receive booster jabs as soon as possible to minimize the risk of catching the variant.

Chinese University professor Dr David Hui said there were concerns that flight crew on home quarantine may spread the coronavirus whenever they left home for Covid tests or bought food during the two-hour window that they are allowed.

Hui said authorities could consider sending staff to collect samples for the crewmen so that they won’t need to leave their homes to undergo tests.

CLICK THIS TO REGISTER FOR FREE!

The first Omicron case to enter the community was the 36-year-old Cathay cargo pilot who arrived in Hong Kong from Anchorage, Alaska on Dec 13.

In today’s Covid-19 update, the CHP said six of the eight confirmed patients carried the N501Y mutant strain, which is now linked more to Omicron than the Alpha variant.

Two of them were female passengers from the UK, one aged 26 who flew in via VS206 on Dec 17 and tested positive at the airport, and another who arrived on CX252 on Dec 13 and was found positive while in hotel quarantine.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Among the four men with the N501Y strain was a 46-year-old crew of Alis Cargo Airline flight CP134 that arrived from Italy on Dec 17 and a 22-year-old resident who flew in from Spain via Qatar on QR818 on Dec 15. They tested positive at the airport.

The two others are a 42-year-old foreign domestic helper who arrived on Dec 13 from India via the United Arab Emirates on EK384, and a 31-year-old man from Kenya who flew in on Dec 15 via Qatar on QR818.

The CHP said a genomic sequencing test on a 62-year-old woman who arrived Dec 15 from Switzerland on flight AY101 via Finland was inconclusive.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Only one patient carried the L452R strain, which is linked to the Delta variant. He was a man aged 59 who arrived Dec 17 from France via Finland on flight AY101 and tested positive for Covid-19 at the Hong Kong International Airport.

All of today’s confirmed patients had received at least two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

PRESS FOR DETAILS!

A total of 66 cases have been reported in the past 14 days ending Dec 18, and all of them are imported.

Meanwhile, the CHP reminded persons who resided or worked in Cheung Hing Building at 44-48 Pitt St, Yau Ma Tei, to go for compulsory testing again on Monday, Dec 20. They will also be required to undergo self-monitoring until the 21st day.

Pindutin para sa detalye

The building is where the Cathay pilot with Omicron lived for two days before testing positive for Omicron.

For case details and contact tracing information, please check the Covid thematic website, www.coronavirus.gov.hk.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Migrants’ Day marked with demand for higher pay, less work

By Daisy CL Mandap 

A token protest to mark International Migrants Day is held outside the Central Government Offices

A minimum wage of no less than $6,014, working hours that do not exceed 11 hours a day and guaranteed long service pay after five years of uninterrupted service were among the key demands migrant organizations raised in a letter addressed to Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Saturday, Dec 18.

The letter was handed out by representatives of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body and the International Migrants Alliance during pocket protests they staged at various government offices as well as the Philippine and Indonesian consulates to mark International Migrants Day.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

In their letter, the two groups said the foreign domestic workers’ current minimum wage of $4,630 a month amounts to only $31.15 per hour, which is just 56% of the $54.70 hourly rate for a “living wage” prescribed by a study conducted by Oxfam.

Despite this, a study by the Mission for Migrant Workers found that 98% of the workers worked long hours. Over 70% were found to work between 11 to 16 hours a day while almost 30% work more than 16 hours daily.

CLICK THIS TO REGISTER FOR FREE!

The Covid-19 pandemic made the 380,000 migrant domestic workers even more vulnerable to abuse, said the letter.

In an online survey conducted by the Mission in March, nearly half (40%) of the respondent workers said they had not been allowed to go out of the house for a month, 25% slept less compared to the previous month, and 50% reported working longer hours.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

And yet migrant workers had been left out of the financial support the government had extended to most sectors of the society to ease the hardships wrought by the pandemic, said the migrants.

“Based on our computation and studies of a standard living wage, the minimum wage of MDWs in Hong Kong should be no less than $6,014 per month and a food allowance of $2,600…” said the letter.

Protest outside Immigration, which is accused of unfairly labeling migrants 'job hoppers'

On top of this, the migrants demanded that the standard employment contract for foreign domestic helpers be amended to provide “for a continuous 11-hour rest periods between two consecutive work days plus meal breaks for live-in domestic workers.”

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

A notable addition to their demands is the provision of long service payment to all domestic workers who work continuously for at least five years with the same employer.

“We demand the Hong Kong government, regardless of who decides not to renew their contract, to guarantee payment of long service after five years of service of work for one employer,” said the letter.

PRESS FOR DETAILS!

Currently, no long service pay is due a domestic helper if he or she is the one who decides not to renew a contract or pre-terminates it, no matter how long the worker had served the employer.

Protest outside the Philippine Consulate focused more on corruption

Another new demand is that Immigration Department stop labeling domestic workers who do not complete their work contracts as “job hoppers.”

“We reiterate that migrants are actually forced to stay in abusive working conditions (rather) than resign for fear of being judged as 'job-hoppers', and then forced to go home,” said the letter.

Pindutin para sa detalye

Providing domestic workers with a living wage and reforming policies that put them in a vulnerable position would enable the Hong Kong government to show its recognition of their valuable contribution to society, the migrant groups said.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Bethune House clients get gift packs from church leader

 By The SUN

 

Bishop Gerry (in white) with Antonio beside him pose with thankful Bethune clients

Christmas came early for about 25 distressed migrant women being looked after at Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge, which runs two shelters in Jordan and Sheung Wan.

On Dec 17, Bishop Gerry Vallo of Jesus the Living God church played Santa to the women at the shelter when he dropped off large care packs for each of them, which he hauled all by himself from his church in Sheung Wan.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Bishop Gerry also turned over $2,500 which was given to his church as a donation for Bethune House, which is struggling to raise money for the $700,000 deficit it incurred this year.

CLICK THIS TO REGISTER FOR FREE!

 

On hand to receive the donations was Bethune’s executive director Edwina Antonio who recently sent out an emergency appeal for help to donors, saying the big number of migrant women who sought their help amid the pandemic had left them in the red.

Bishop Gerry prays over the distressed women, one of whom gave birth recently

Those currently at the two shelters which Bethune House runs solely on private donations are either seriously ill, abused or maltreated, or pursuing a labor claim against their employers. One gave birth recently but had to stay on to serve as a witness in a criminal case.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

After giving out the care packs, Bishop Vallo prayed for those running Bethune House, saying, “God, give them more energy to serve more…”

For the women at the shelter, he prayed that they be given comfort and blessing so they could overcome their struggles.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

He also hailed Bethune House as a blessing, not only for Filipinos but to all women in need, whatever their “race, color or nationalities.”

Antonio thanked Bishop Gerry for his gifts, and hoped that with help from his prayers Bethune could overcome its financial difficulties so it could continue serving distressed migrants.

A quarantined Filipina shows off the contents of the gift pack she received from Bishop Gerry

Bishop Gerry has been crowdfunding among people of faith to help migrant workers in distress and newly arrived Filipino workers who are currently serving their mandatory their 21-day quarantine at Penny’s Bay, Rambler Garden Hotel and Courtyard by Marriott in Shatin.

Also among the beneficiaries of his charity were the wards at the Filipino Workers Resource Center run by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office. Eight Filipinas in distress gave him wide smiles as they accepted his care packs, followed by a pray-over.

Eight wards at the FWRC were happy to see Bishop Gerry who came with gifts

PRESS FOR DETAILS!

 

After The SUN helped publicize his offer of giving out care packs to those at the designated quarantine facilities, more than 100 Filipina workers sent him messages, asking to be included in his gift-giving.

The bishop's response was quick. One grateful Filipina sent a photo of the contents of the care pack she received on Saturday, and said the unexpected gift was a big help to her. 

Pindutin para sa detalye

"Sobrang thank you po at more blessings po. God bless you," said Ann Zamora. (I really thank you, and I hope you receive more blessings in turn).

To date, Bishop Gerry has committed to handing out care packs to some 80 Filipinas in quarantine, but says he continues to pray for more donors so he can provide for all those who had reached out to him.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Filipina ex-DH charged with trafficking 1.9kg of drugs

By Vir B. Lumicao

 

Ecstacy weighing about 1.9 kilos was seized at HK Airport on May 8 last year

A Filipina former domestic helper who is charged with trafficking about 1.9 kilograms of suspected dangerous drugs will be tried in the High Court next year, prosecutors told the Kowloon City Court today, Dec 17.

The defendant, Maricris Q. Quejada, appeared before Magistrate Peony Wong in Kowloon City Court, where she was read an amended charge.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The prosecution said Quejada was arrested in a flat in Tsim Sha Tsui on May 13 this year for allegedly trafficking 1,852 grams of ketamine and 3.4 grams of another dangerous drug.

No other details of the case were mentioned and no plea was taken.

CLICK THIS TO REGISTER FOR FREE!

The prosecutor said the case will be tried in the Court of First Instance on an unspecified date next year.

Magistrate Wong remanded Quejada in custody and ordered her to appear in Eastern Court on Jan 24.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The Customs & Excise Department said in a government press release on May 14 that it seized about 1.9 kilos of suspected ecstacy tablets with an estimated market value of about $310,000 at Hong Kong International Airport on May 8.

Customs offices reportedly examined an air postal packet that arrived from Germany and found the suspected ecstacy concealed between layers of a carton box.

Pindutin para sa detalye

In a follow-up investigation in Tsim Sha Tsui on May 13, officers arrested a 37-year-old woman in connection with the case.

The woman was charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug and appeared in West Kowloon Court on May 15.

PRESS FOR DETAILS!

Customs reminded the public not take part in drug trafficking activities in exchange for money, or agree to carry prohibited items into and out of Hong Kong.

Pindutin para sa detalye

Drug trafficking is a serious offence in Hong Kong, for which the maximum penalty is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

3 more Omicron cases reported, including quarantine-exempt air crew

 By The SUN

 

One of the 3 new Omicron cases is a Cathay cargo crew who was quarantine exempt 

Health authorities reported finding three more newly arrived passengers carrying the Omicron variant today, Dec 18, including a cargo air crew member who tested positive for Covid-19 two days after arriving in Hong Kong and being allowed to undergo medical surveillance at home.

The 27-year-old Cathay Pacific cargo crew was confirmed as a Covid-19 case yesterday, and tested positive for the N501Y mutant strain.

An overnight lockdown of his residential building in Yau Ma Tei on Thursday did not yield any new infection, but the Centre for Health Protection ordered six more rounds of tests for residents as a precaution.

Two other male patients who were also confirmed to have the coronavirus yesterday were also found to carry the Omicron variant. One is 30 years old and flew in from Ghana via Qatar, while the other is 27 years old who came from the Bahamas via the United States.

The three took the total number of Omicron cases in Hong Kong to 14. Of the 11 earlier cases, two were linked to South Africa, two to the United States, two to the United Kingdom, two to Nigeria, two from Uganda and Kenya, and one from Tanzania.

More Omicron cases are likely to be found, as many new arrivals
carry the mutant strain linked to the new variant 

Meanwhile five new imported cases of Covid-19 were reported today, including three who carry the N501Y mutant strain, which now appears to be linked more to Omicron than to the earlier Alpha variant.

These include a 35-year-old woman who arrived from Nigeria on board QR818 on Dec 14, and had to spend her first seven days of quarantine at Penny’s Bay. The two others are both women who came from the United Kingdom aboard CX252 on Dec. 15. One is 77 years old and the other is 56.

The two other confirmed cases are both males who tested positive for the L452R mutant strain commonly linked to the Delta variant. One is 83 years old and tested positive on arrival from Canada while the other is 24 years old, and took the Nepal Air flight from Kathmandu that was suspended for two weeks after three of its passengers tested positive on their arrival test on Dec 14.

The new cases took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 12,519 which includes one probable case.

2 more Omicron cases found

by The SUN

 

The 2 Omicron carriers flew in on the same cargo plane from Kenya, UAE, India and Uganda

Two more Omicron cases were reported in by health authorities, bringing to 11 the total number patients found with the new, highly contagious variant.

The two patients are both male air cargo crew who flew in together on Dec 15 aboard flight ACP502 which came from Kenya, the United Arab Emirates, India and Uganda. Both tested positive on their arrival at Hong Kong Airport.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

However, one, who is 27 years old, was confirmed to have Covid-19 yesterday, while the second, who is 41, was in today’s list of confirmed cases.

The whole genomic sequencing of the virus each carried showed the presence of the Omicron variant with the N501Y mutant strain.

CLICK THIS TO REGISTER FOR FREE!

The older man was asymptomatic and had received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Kenya in April and July. The Centre for Health Protection said the patient had reported contracting Covid-19 in Kenya in July 2020. After investigation, the CHP concluded that the case was a new infection.

The younger man developed symptoms on his arrival on Dec 15. The Ct value for the test after his admission to hospital is over 30, indicating a low viral load, and he tested positive for antibodies. He had been fully jabbed with the Moderna vaccine in Kenya.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Meanwhile, an investigation into the case of another cargo air crew who tested preliminary positive last night and was confirmed to have Covid-19 today, is still ongoing.

CHP has said the 36-year-old Cathay crew who was exempted from quarantine, had both the N501Y and T478K mutations, indicating that he might be an Omicron carrier as well.

Pindutin para sa detalye

Today the CHP ordered six more compulsory tests for residents of Cheung Hing Building in Yau Ma Tei where the patient lives. An overnight lockdown of the building last night yielded no new Covid-19 infection.

More tests have been ordered for residents of the building where the CX cargo crew lives

The nine previous Omicron cases involved two travelers linked to South Africa, two who arrived from Nigeria, two from the United Kingdom and one from Tanzania.

Today’s five other new cases included another male air crew who flew in from Portugal, Canada and the United States and carried no mutant strain. The 30-year-old was asymptomatic but tested positive on his arrival at Hong Kong Airport.

PRESS FOR DETAILS!

Another confirmed case is a two-year-old girl who was moved to Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre after being identified as a close contact of a previously infected patient. The girl came from Argentina and Germany on Dec 15 and was found to carry the L452R mutant strain.

Pindutin para sa detalye

The three others include a 30-year-old man who came from Ghana via Qatar and a 27-year-old man who flew in the Bahamas via the United States who both arrived on Dec 15 and tested positive at the airport; and a 24-year-old woman who came from the United Kingdom on Dec 13 and was found infected on her third day of hotel quarantine.

They took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 infections to 12,514, which include one probable case.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Police say prosecution still possible in PEYA mess probe

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Police descend on Peya's office in 2017 as hundreds of irate customers besieged the place

Four years after the PEYA Travel ticketing fiasco that led to hundreds of Filipino workers who were going home for Christmas family reunions being stranded at the airport, the case is still alive, according to the Consulate.

No less than the Office of the Commissioner of Police has sent a letter to the Consulate recently asking for assistance just in case the investigators get the green light to prosecute those behind the mess, a PCG officer said Thursday, Dec. 16.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

“We received a letter from the police advising us to be prepared to help if they receive the signal to prosecute the case,” said Consul Paulo Saret, head of the assistance to nationals section.

Saret said he called the police unit handling the case upon receipt of the letter, and gave assurance that the ATN can contact the complainants anytime they’re needed as it has them in its database.

CLICK THIS TO REGISTER FOR FREE!

Police investigated the case after hundreds of ticket-buyers who were expecting to fly home for Christmas were bumped off their flights starting Dec 18, 2017, as PEYA had not paid the carriers for their tickets.

When irate passengers descended en masse on PEYA’s office in World-Wide House starting Dec 18 to demand a refund, PEYA staff quit altogether on the same day, while managing director Rhea Donna “Yanyan” Boyce did not show up.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Marketing manager Arnold Grospe faced the angry customers alone on Dec 19, signing a sort of promissory note to return their money. In the evening, he was invited by officers to the Central Police Station for questioning but released him in the wee hours.

 

Boyce was later arrested for suspected fraud in her Wanchai flat on Christmas Day while her Australian husband, Peter, was nabbed and investigated. He was later freed.

 

Pindutin para sa detalye

In July this year, a police spokesperson said both Boyce and Grospe had been freed without charges being filed against either.

“They have not been rearrested and, as such, have no police bail and are not required to report to the police every month,” the spokeswoman said. 

But at the same time, she said the case was still open and police were still seeking legal opinion and gathering evidence.

PRESS FOR DETAILS!

Consul Saret said as far as he could recall, about 250 of the estimated 1,200 passengers, mostly domestic workers, whose travel plans were fouled up by the PEYA mess had given their statements to the police.

Police trying to peep into Ylagan's shuttered offices in World-Wide House 

He said that number of complainants would be enough to represent all those affected if a class suit would be filed against the company

Meanwhile, the police say they are also continuing their investigation into allegations of fraud against Ester Ylagan owner of two collapsed employment agencies, Emry’s and Mike’s Secretarial Services.

Pindutin para sa detalye

 

Ylagan remains under police bail after being arrested in 2016 on suspicion of offering non-existent jobs in Canada and Britain to at least 200 Filipino workers in Hong Kong and Macau, who were each charged between $10,000 and $15,000.

 Police said Ylagan is due to report back to them in mid-January next year.

 

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE