18k people get jabbed ahead of Feb 24 rollout of ‘vaccine bubble’

By Daisy CL Mandap 

CE Lam says the vaccine bubble for inoculated residents will start on Feb 24

Almost 18,000 people rushed to get vaccinated yesterday, in anticipation of the introduction of the vaccine bubble that will bar unvaccinated people from entering restaurants and other leisure venues.

This was revealed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam today, Jan 4, at a press briefing ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting.

Mrs Lam said the number of those who queued up for a vaccine yesterday was the highest in recent days, and pushed up Hong Kong’s vaccination rate to 72.9%. About 15,000 of these people received their first dose.

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The rush to get jabbed was sparked by an announcement by Health Secretary Sophia Chan on Dec 31 that a vaccine bubble would be introduced before the Lunar New Year which starts on Feb 1.

However, the CE said the original target date was too close and would not give enough time for premises, particularly restaurants, to make the necessary arrangements. She set down the implementation date to Feb 24, or “seven weeks from now.”

Many elderly residents had their first jab, apparently afraid of missing out on 'yum cha' (File)

But at the same time, she said the coverage of the bubble will be expanded to include schools and leisure venues such as libraries and museums.

However, the requirement will not apply to children below 12 years old and those who can prove that they are medically unfit to get the vaccine.

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She ruled out extending the vaccine bubble to malls and offices for now, citing the “far-reaching impact” of such steps.

“At the moment there is no plan to include private premises because that will amount to a lockdown. But we are not closing doors to this,” she said.

Mrs Lam also ruled out a further tightening of social distance measures, including suspending face-to-face classes again, citing a study that showed this had a negative impact on students.

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“School suspension will have a very big impact on students especially those from the grass-roots background as they are denied face-to-face learning. I won’t take this decision lightly,” she said.

For schools, she said the initial phase of the vaccine bubble will cover only teachers and staff but not students, to avoid introducing too much complexity at the beginning.

Mrs Lam also clarified that Hong Kong’s zero infection target means a “dynamic zero” infection control, citing recent effort of health authorities in containing the spread of the Omicron variant brought in by overseas travelers.

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She said that of the 102 Omicron cases detected so far, 97 were imported, and 5 were linked to an imported case.

The spread of the variant in the Moon Palace restaurant in Kowloon Tong was readily contained, with all but six of the 207 people inside the venue being identified or tracked within days and sent to a quarantine centre, Mrs Lam said.

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However, she admitted it was too early to say that the city has managed to put the spread of the highly feared variant under control.

“Experts believe that the next two weeks are critical,” she said. “If we can stop the spread, we may prevent a fifth wave.”

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HK records first suspected local transmission of Omicron

By The SUN 

Au said the patient was not in contact with any infected patient or had been to high-risk places (File)

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus appears to have started circulating locally in Hong Kong, as health authorities detected the first intractable case of someone possibly carrying the highly transmissible variant.

The 42-year-old man who is said to live in Tuen Mun, tested preliminary positive Tuesday for Covid-19 with the N501Y and T478K mutant strains, which are both linked to Omicron.

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Dr Albert Au from the Centre for Health Protection told reporters preliminary investigations failed to identify the patient’s source of infection.

The man is said to be a surveyor who works in North Point and lives with his wife and daughter in Tsui Ning Garden in Tuen Mun.

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“Initial epidemiological research has shown he has not visited any high-risk places or been in contact with other confirmed patients,” said Au, who is CHP’s chief medical and health officer.

Au said the man had a headache and fever on Jan 2, and went to see a private doctor a day later who got him tested for Covid-19. The result was positive and he was sent to North Lantau Hospital Infection Control Centre.

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“It is worrying, as there can be silent transmission within the community,” Au said.

He added the man had a low viral load with a Ct value greater than 30, which could indicate he had been infected for sometime.

A 7th diner at Moon Palace has tested positive for Covid-19  

Au spoke with reporters after visiting the Moon Palace in Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong, where an Omicron outbreak was traced to a Cathay aircrew who had lunch there on Dec. 27, two days after returning from the United States.

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Au said another diner at the restaurant had tested preliminary positive, which could make her the seventh person to have been infected in the cluster.

The new patient is the 13-year-old daughter of a diner who lives in Ma On Shan and had tested positive earlier.

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The girl was among 370 people quarantined in Penny's Bay after being identified as close contacts of the infected cluster.

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Flights from Manila halted as Cathay also gets 2-week ban

By The SUN 

All passenger flights from Manila have now been suspended until Jan 12 at earliest 

Hong Kong has effectively banned all passenger flights from Manila after Cathay Pacific became the third airline to be suspended from flying in for two weeks from today, Jan 3, 

This was after seven of its passengers on flight CX906 on Jan 1 tested positive on arrival.

On Dec 30, Cebu Pacific’s flight 5J272 was also meted the 2-week ban after three of its passengers tested positive on arrival the day before, while Philippine Airlines’ flight PR300 flew in with six infected passengers on the same day, and got the axe on Dec 31. 

The suspension will last for 14 days in each case, which means Cebu Pac can resume flying in only after Jan 12 and PAL, after Jan 13. The ban on CX will last until Jan 17.

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The seven infected passengers on flight CX906 were among 20 travelers from the Philippines, all foreign domestic helpers, who all carried the coronavirus with mutant strains linked to the Omicron variant.

The 13 others all came in via flight PR300 which arrived on Dec 30. The patients tested positive while in quarantine at either Penny’s Bay or Courtyard by Marriott.

At today’s press briefing by the Centre for Health Protection, Dr Albert Au said a total of 20 passengers in that flight alone have been confirmed as Covid positive  

Au also said that 29 additional confirmed cases were recorded as of midnight last night, including the 20 from the Philippines. All but one were imported.

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The remaining imported cases included four from Canada, one from Indonesia, one from Australia, and one from South Africa.

The only non-imported case involved a 38-year-old woman who had lunch with her husband at Moon Palace in Festival Walk on Dec 27, when a newly arrived Cathay aircrew is believed to have spread the mutated virus to fellow diners.

She was sent to Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre on Dec 30 after her husband tested positive for Covid-19 with the Omicron variant. She tested negative on Dec 31 but developed a sore throat the next day, so she was sent to Tuen Mun hospital where she tested positive.

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She works in an office in Tsuen Wan and all her coworkers and immediate family members have been moved to Penny’s Bay.

Dr Au said among about 40 preliminary positive cases was a 66-year-old woman who dined in a private room at Moon Palace with eight others at about 12:30 to 1:30pm, just about the time the index patient arrived for a meal with two others.

Au reports 1 more confirmed and 1 preliminary positive cases among Moon Palace diners

The woman lives in Tai Wai and is retired. She was move to Penny’s Bay on Dec 31 after being identified as a close contact and tested positive on Jan 1. If confirmed in a second test, she would be the sixth confirmed case from the restaurant cluster.

Meanwhile, her residential building has been put under an overnight lockdown tonight while tests are carried out on everyone who lives there.

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Au said there were 207 customers and 22 staff members at the restaurant during the relevant periods. Of these, 191 have been identified, and will be sent to Penny’s Bay. A further 10 were tracked from their credit card payments and will be put under compulsory quarantine. Six left no contact information and are now being traced.

Also among the notable cases was that of a 45-year-old Cathay Pacific air crew who lives in Tung Chung. He left Hong Kong for Melbourne, Australia on Dec 27 and returned on Dec 30. Previously, he arrived from the UK on Dec 20, and Malaysia on Dec 26.

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He tested negative on his arrival in HK so he proceeded to complete his crew quarantine at Headland Hotel in Cathay Pacific city. He tested positive on Day 3.

CHP said it appeared the air crew picked up the virus in Australia but as a precaution, all the places he visited after Dec 20 will be included in a CTN.

Also at the press conference was Dr Sara Ho of the Hospital Authority, who said that a total of 235 patients are currently being treated at the North Lantau Hospital Infection Control Centre. One is in serious condition while the rest are all stable.

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HK gives $540k in relief goods to typhoon victims in Philippines

By The SUN 

The country's surfing capital, Siargao, bore the full brunt of Odette

The Hong Kong government has approved the release of HK$540,000 (Php3.5 million) from its Disaster Relief Fund to Amity Foundation for providing relief to victims of typhoon Odette (international name Rai) in the Philippines.

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According to a statement released on the HK government website, the grant will be used used to provide drinking water, rice, dried fish, canned food, beans, sugar and cooking oil to around 9,000 victims to address their imminent need.

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“The grant was approved under the fast-track mechanism set up on the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee to facilitate relief agencies kick-starting first-phase emergency relief work,” said the statement.

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Amity Foundation will submit an evaluation report and an audited account of how the grant was used after the relief operation, said the statement.

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Odette, classified as a super typhoon when it made nine landfalls in central and southern Philippines a week before Christmas, killed at least 406 people and left 83 others missing.

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It is described as the third costliest in Philippine history as it damaged US$794.72 million worth of properties, infrastructures and crops.

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FDHs can enjoy 1 more statutory holiday this year

By The SUN

 

FDHs can spend their additional holiday visiting the newly renovated Big Buddha in Lantau 

Foreign domestic helpers along with all other employees in Hong Kong, will have one additional statutory holiday starting this year -- the Birthday of the Buddha on May 8 -- bringing to 13 the number of days in which migrant workers are entitled to be off work.

As this will be a Sunday, on which most OFWs take their day off work, they are entitled to enjoy the new holiday the next day, according to guidelines issued by the Labour Department.

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Buddha’s Birthday is the first of the five additional statutory holidays that will be added gradually until 2030 under the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2021, which took effect last Jan. 1.

The four other statutory holidays to be added to Hong Kong’s work calendar are the first weekday after Christmas Day, starting 2024; Easter Monday, from 2026; Good Friday, from 2028 and the day following Good Friday, from 2030.

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The 13 statutory holidays for 2022 are:

1. The first day of January, 1 January

2. Lunar New Year’s Day, 1 February

3. The second day of Lunar New Year, 2 February

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4. The third day of Lunar New Year, 3 February

5. Ching Ming Festival, 5 April

6. Labour Day, 1 May

7. The Birthday of the Buddha, 8 May

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8. Tuen Ng Festival, 3 June

9. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day, 1 July

10. The second day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, 12 September

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11. National Day, 1 October

12. Chung Yeung Festival, 4 October

13. Chinese Winter Solstice Festival or Christmas Day (at the option of the employer), 22 December or 25 December

Note: Holidays that fall on Sundays, such as Christmas Day, can be enjoyed the next day if the worker is off Sundays. Since the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival of 2022 (No. 10) also falls on a Sunday, Sept. 12 (Monday) is also designated as a statutory holiday. 

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Filipino DH could face murder after Pinay girlfriend dies from head injuries

By Daisy CL Mandap 

No bail was allowed for Valencia after the court heard his alleged victim died from her injuries

Charges against a Filipino domestic helper could be upgraded to either murder or manslaughter after his Filipina girlfriend died from head injuries she sustained on Dec 22 allegedly due to his mauling, Eastern Court was told earlier today, Jan. 3.

Bernie Macatangay Valencia, 42, appeared in court originally charged with wounding with intent, but prosecutors told Magistrate Ada Yim that the charge against him would be amended following the death of the alleged victim yesterday.

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“It is possible that the charge may be amended to murder or manslaughter,” said the prosecution. She added that she would continue to oppose any bail application by Valencia “in view of the serious offence committed.”

Yim was told the alleged victim, Ivy Quiabang, 36, passed on in hospital at 7:52am on Sunday, Jan. 2.

Valencia’s lawyer, on the other hand, said there would be no bail application to be made on behalf of the defendant.

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Yim told Valencia she was extending his bail, and that he should appear again in court on Feb. 7.

Police filed a charge of wounding with intent against Valencia when he first appeared in Kwun Tong court on Dec. 25.

Police say the incident happened in a boarding house on Stone Nullah Lane in Wanchai

He was arrested on the night of Dec 23 after he took an unconscious Quialang to Ruttonjee Hospital. The couple reportedly fought the day before at their boarding house on Stone Nullah Lane in Wanchai, which ended with the accused hitting the woman.

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The alleged victim reportedly suffered brain hemorrhage and was transferred to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital where she was operated on, but never regained consciousness. 

Records at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration showed Quiabang was separated from her husband and was raising her two young kids with help from her family in Isabela.

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She had worked for a single employer for eight years and was issued her new employment visa on Dec 23. She would have started working for her employer today, Jan 3 had she not met an untimely death.

Valencia, on the other hand, reportedly arrived in Hong Kong only in September last year and was looking for a new employer after the previous one relocated abroad.

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OWWA and the Assistance to Nationals Section of the Consulate are now looking into who should take care of repatriating Quiabang's remains due to her uncertain visa status.

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