Police fine 71 people for gathering, 582 others for not wearing mask in public

By The SUN

 

The cold and rain, plus government warnings left Chater Road largely empty today

The police have issued penalty tickets to 71 people who violated the regulation against group gathering (Cap.599G), and a whopping 582 tickets to those found not wearing a mask in public (Cap.599I) during a two-day operation that ended at 6pm Sunday.

According to a police spokeswoman, 19 of those who were fined for not complying with the group gathering restriction were foreign domestic helpers. She could not give a separate figure for those who were issued tickets for failing to wear a mask properly.

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Separately, according to a government statement issued late Sunday, the Labour Department found nine FDHs who failed to comply with the prohibition on group gathering, and one who did not wear a mask properly. All of them were issued fixed penalty tickets.

In its own crackdown on violators, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department issued nine fixed penalty notices to persons who breached public cleanliness offences.

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In addition, they seized articles abandoned by illegal hawkers in the Victoria Park area weighing about 75 kilos, which included cooked food and cooking paraphernalia.

Meanwhile, staff from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department issued mostly verbal warnings over the two day period. The government statement said more than 640 verbal advice were given out during patrol of venues by LCSD staff.

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However, they also issued fixed penalty notices to four persons who breached mandatory mask-wearing in public places.

Police in the act of issuing fixed penalty tickets

The joint-departmental operation was carried after Chief Executive Carrie Lam vowed “no mercy” for those found violating the tightened gathering restrictions, amid the continuing surge of Covid-19 cases.

From Feb 10, only a maximum of two persons are allowed to gather in public, from the previous four. Mask-wearing remains compulsory in most public places, indoor or outdoor.

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Officials have also warned of further restrictions if the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continue to climb. Latest figures from the government show the daily infection rate has now gone up to around 10,000.

In the wake of the warnings, favorite gathering places of FDHs were largely empty today, including the Filipinos’ favorite haunt, Chater Road in Central. The cold and rainy day could have also contributed to the decision of many to stay away.

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However, a few workers on their days off managed to get together still in the undeground walkway connecting Chater Road and Edinburgh Place, their ubiquitous cardboard shields separating them from pedestrians.

But as a video posted on Facebook showed, uniformed police officers soon descended on the gathered women, telling them to dismantle their cardboard partitions and get off the walkway.

Police dismantle cardboard partitions and clear the pedestrian walkway of workers  

Meanwhile, the police spokesperson said she needed to double check how much the penalty tickets issued to violators cost.

The regulation says the penalty should be $5,000 for those who violate the rule that only a maximum of two people could gather in public, and a separate one that punishes failure to wear a mask in public. 

However, in her warning, the Chief Executive said the penalty had been doubled to $10,000.

The two-day joint operation was carried out in various districts where people, including FDHs congregate during weekends and public holidays, including Tamar Park in Admiralty, and Edinburgh Place, Chater Road and Statue Square in Central.

Apart from the group gathering violations, Labour staff also took the opportunity to distribute rapid test kits to FDHs so they could do voluntary testing and protect themselves and their employers’ families.

However, people are reminded that rapid tests are not a substitute to swab tests in complying with a compulsory testing notice.

 

Hong Kong shivers as temperatures fall to lowest this winter season

The view from Central at 5:30pm. (HKO photo)

Hong Kong shivered today as cold air and rain whipped by the winter monsoon in Northeastern China drove  temperatures to the lowest since the start of the winter season. The barometer plunged to 0.6 degrees Celsius at its highest peak, Tai Mo Shan, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

Temperatures in other mountainous spots were similarly cold, such as Ngong Ping at 2.9 degrees and Tate’s Cairn at 3.1 degrees, but the urban areas saw minimum temperatures ranging from 6.3 degrees in Tai Kwu Ling to 8.7 degrees in Happy Valley.

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As of 11:00 am, the minimum temperature recorded at the HKO Headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui was 8.0 degrees, the lowest since the beginning of this winter season, while the temperature in the New Territories was generally one or two degrees lower.

HKO said the cold weather is expected to prevail until Tuesday with temperatures ranging from 8 to 11 degrees.

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Driven mostly by the seasonal flow of cold air known as northern monsoon, which originates in northeastern China, the cold snap in being felt by Chinese coastal areas from Shanghai down to Hong Kong.

Wednesday is expected to see temperatures rising to a range of from 10 to 14 degrees, due to the clouds thinning to allow sunny intervals in the afternoon.

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The sun is expected to shine brightly on Thursday, sending temperatures to a maximum of 16 degrees.

The thermometer is expected to continue climbing until it reaches 20 degrees by next Tuesday.

Shunned after getting Covid-19, 5 Filipina DHs are now safely together

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

The 5 rescued workers are all happy now, though an uncertain future still awaits most of them

A few days ago, each of these five Filipina domestic helpers thought their world had come crashing down. After learning they had contracted Covid-19, they all found themselves being treated as outcasts, even by fellow helpers they used to live with.

Two were asked by their new employers to move out and look for a boarding house, fearing that they could bring the virus into their flats, and infect their elderly wards. 

Two others were asked to leave by their fellow helpers with whom they lived in a boarding house.

The last one, Angel, spent two nights in a Kowloon park as she had nowhere to go after  testing positive in a Covid-19 test just hours before she was set to fly out to the Philippines.

Each had a heartbreaking story to tell about what they had to go through until kindly souls heard of their plight and found them a boarding house in Sai Ying Pun where they now live together.

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Everyone happily says they are well-provided for by the non-government organization, Help for Domestic Helpers, while they spend the mandatory 14-day isolation period in the shelter.

But until they were found, each of the helpers had to spend at least a night out in the cold and rain, while waiting for help from the various individuals and groups they had contacted.

Two of them, Girlie and Jean, camped outside Queen Mary Hospital in Pokfulam on Monday night after they were checked at the accident and emergency section and told they needed to go home for isolation.

The problem was, they had no place to go. Jean was asked by her employer to look for a boarding house, but she knew nobody would take her in if they learned she was Covid-positive.

Girlie was on a live-out arrangement and was told by her boardmates they could not allow her back in after learning of her positive test result.

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Both said it hurt to be driven away by staff at the hospital after a perfunctory check-up. They were not even told there was a tent nearby where other patients waiting to be admitted could stay, so they ended up laying on the concrete floor near a bus stop while waiting for a rescue.

The third, Mai, was also staying in a boarding house after terminating her employment contract. The Sunday before she had gone out and got wet in the rain, and developed a runny nose. She decided to do a rapid antigen test on Wednesday, and the result was positive.

As soon as her fellow boarders heard about her positive result, they distanced themselves from her.  They insisted on staying in their respective beds and refused to have dinner in their common area so Mai had no choice but to leave the flat.

She stayed outdoors in a space nearby, with just a sheer tent the other women had lent her to shield her from the cold and rain. The bad cold she was nursing got worse overnight.

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Her close friend, Jo, reached out to a number of people, including the Consulate, but could not find a place for Mai to stay.

Jo said in message, “Nakakalungkot po, padami ng padami ang cases, wala po silang nakahandang paglagyan sa mga kababayan natin na walang mapuntahan. Maswerte po yung iba na mabait ang amo, paano naman yung kagaya ng case ng kaibigan ko? Wala naman akong magawa para sa kanya kundi damayan siya through call at maghanap ng matatawagan na makakatulong sa kanya. Sana po mailapit ninyo sa mga nasa government ang issue na ito.”

(It’s sad because the cases are piling up but they can’t seem to find a place for our sick compatriots who don’t have anywhere to go. Some are lucky to have kind employers, but how about cases like my friend? I can’t even help her aside from comforting her through phone calls and look for someone who could help her. I hope you could bring this issue to people in government).

Luckily, Mai was contacted by someone who managed to put her in the same boarding house secured by HELP.

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Another woman sheltering in the same flat is Lyn, who is just waiting for her new work visa to be released. While at the house of her prospective employer last Friday she developed a sore throat, so she did an antigen test, and got a positive result.

That same afternoon her employer asked their employment agency to book Lyn a swab test with a private doctor in Aberdeen, and the result was positive. She was told to go home and isolate.

Later that same day she took another rapid test and the result was again positive. The agency staff asked her to book a room in a boarding house and not tell anyone about her condition, but she resisted, saying that would not be fair to others staying in the same unit.

She ended up staying in her employer’s backdoor space for an entire day, before she was given the telephone number of someone called Jenny who gave her the address of the isolation flat in Sai Ying Pun.

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Now Mai just hopes to get through the 14 days without experiencing any severe symptoms so she can move back in with her new employer as she expects her visa to be issued by Immigration next month.

Angel spent many nights camped out on this park bench after she tested positive

That is something that Angel cannot look forward to, as her application to move to another employer was rejected by Immigration with finality on Feb. 9, after two months of waiting.

The rejection came as a shock to both Angel and her prospective employer, as she had completed four years of service with her first employer before she moved in with a new one whom she said treated so badly that she was forced to terminate their contract.

Angel said she was so stressed during this time that she lost 11 kilos in just three months. She also suffered from a bad back as she was made to sleep in the laundry area with just a narrow and thin comforter between her and the cold tiled floor.

With her visa set to expire on Feb 17, she booked a flight for Manila on Feb 16. Early on Feb 14, she took her suitcase from storage and went to a community testing centre in Yau Tong to get the required pre-flight Covid-19 test.

She did not get her test result immediately but on Feb 15 she received a notification from CHP to log in her HKID number to view the result. Failing to do this after repeated tries, she went back to the testing centre late that night, and was told the bad news: She tested preliminary positive, which meant she couldn’t fly.

As she had no symptoms, the testing centre told her to go home for isolation. Despite her repeated pleas for help in booking an isolation facility as she had no place to go home to, she was asked to leave.

Not knowing where to go, she went back to sleeping in a park bench nearby, her suitcases strewn about her. During that time she said she had to fend off several sleazy propositions from men who hung out in the area.

At one point, she awakened to see three young locals who said they were handing out masks to the public and doing other social work. When she told them she had tested positive, the three scampered away.

Still, some local netizens who saw her took pity and posted her photos on Facebook, which then found their way into an online publication, and ultimately, to charity workers who got her admitted into the boarding house. 

Girlie, Jean, Mai, Lyn and Angel are among a growing number of foreign domestic workers who are being cast out of flats and dormitories as the coronavirus surge continues to intensify.

The stigma attached to the most infectious Covid-19 strain appears to be the main reason, but many people are often also anxious not to get infected as that would prevent them from going about their normal lives, and even put their precious jobs on the line.

But whatever the reason, there clearly is a need to set aside an isolation facility for migrant workers who remain one of the most vulnerable and targeted sectors in the society, and now bear the brunt of the discrimination and mass hysteria sparked by one of the worst scourges of our time.

Covid tally again surges to 6,063 with 7,400 preliminary positive cases

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

People flock to testing centers as the govt continues its lockdowns and compulsory testing notices

Hong Kong posted 6,063 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 Saturday, with another 7,400 testing preliminary positive.

The figure is just slightly lower than the record tally of 6,611 confirmed cases posted on Thursday last week. So far, a total of 46,763 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in Hong Kong.

Fifteen deaths were also reported, comprising 10 men and five women, aged 50 to 99 years old. As in most deaths recorded since the start of the fifth wave of the epidemic, most were unvaccinated.

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According to the Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Center for Health Protection, a study showed that of the 46 deaths recorded since Dec 31 last year, only six patients were vaccinated. Three had three doses each of the Sinovac vaccine, one had two doses of BioNTech, and two had one dose each of Sinovac.

Of today’s confirmed cases, four were imported and 6,059 were locally acquired.

Twenty patients were found to carry the L452R mutant strain identified with the Delta variant, while 2,769 are likely carriers of the Omicron variant. Test results on the remaining 22 cases are either pending or the virus load was insufficient for testing.

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Dr Chuang said 30 more homes for the elderly have reported Covid-19 infections among residents or staff, raising the total number of affected care homes to 190, involving about 120 staff and 450 residents.

She also apologized for the delay in reaching out to close contacts who are spending home isolation, but said auxiliary medical staff would soon contact them to distribute electronic wristbands and supplies they need for medical surveillance.

Dr Sara Ho from the Hospital Authority said a total of 3,312 patients are in the North Lantau Hospital Infection Control Centre, the HA Infectious Disease Centre, AsiaWorld Expo and public hospitals.

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In addition, there are about 2,400 patients with mild or no symptoms at Penny’s Bay Isolation Center, and 110 others at the Tsuen Wan Isolation Centre.

She said there are more than 10 patients in critical condition, aged 45 to 93 years old. There are “several dozens” others who are in serious condition.

HA says no more scenes like this as waiting patients have been moved inside hospitals (Reuters)

As promised yesterday, she said all patients waiting outside hospitals for admission have been moved inside. But the tents outside are still being used for triage and for tests.

Dr Ho again offered apologies for the long wait for hospital admission that forced many patients to wait for hours, even days, in open air amid the cold and rain.

“Please understand that the crisis is not over yet,” she said, adding the HA is exhausting all means to secure beds for patients.

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Aside from cutting the hospital stay of patients who test negative after seven days, the HA is said to be actively looking for more isolation facilities, and has cut some non-emergency services so more staff can help look after the patients.

The effort to recruit private doctors for parttime work in public hospitals is also continuing. This morning, she said three private doctors messaged to offer their services through the dedicated WhatsApp number, 9788 8960, and by this afternoon they had already signed contracts..

“We hope with the facilitation of the process, more and more applicants will come and join our team,” she said.

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Meanwhile, Dr Chuang said patients under home isolation could leave after 14 days if they test negative, even with the use of the rapid antigen test kits.

“They no longer have to notify us,” she said.

But to classify patients as confirmed cases, she said the CHP will still rely on PCR test results.

Dr Chuang said there is scientific evidence showing that patients who test negative after 10 to 14 days are no longer infectious.

Labour Sec warns, fundraising for fined FDHs may be illegal

By The SUN

Law issued the warning during a talk on Commercial Radio

The Hong Kong government says it is looking into the possible liability of people raising funds to give financial help to domestic helpers who had been fined for violating social disgtancing regulations.

“Because this indirectly encourages foreign domestic helpers to gather, there is no need to be afraid of being fined,” Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said in a radio program earlier today.

 “Therefore, the Labour Department will consult the Department of Justice on whether legal action can be taken to stop these crowdfunding activities.”

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As this developed, a GoGetFunding campaign organized by one who wanted to be known as Helping Helpers, has stopped accepting contributions after raising a total of $107,012.

The website  simply said: “The campaign owner has stopped the page from accepting further donations. Please contact them if you'd still like to donate.”

The campaign was started two days ago after several local and expatriate supporters expressed concern in a Facebook group over the $5,000 fixed penalty imposed on 17 FDHs who were found to have violated the ban on public gatherings of more than two people, or were caught not wearing a mask last Sunday.

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They pointed out that the fine was more than what most domestic helpers in Hong Kong earn in a month.

The campaign had earlier received publicity, and comments such as one sent by Savina Chapman: “Justice for helpers!! They should not be singled out for fines, we need to make sure they have protection in regards to covid regulations.

“Another contributor, Bianca Habana, wrote: “While the system may be cruel, it inspires hope seeing members of the community take action to help those who are disempowered by systematic racism.”

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Law, responding to a reporter’s question, referred to the fund-raising organizer: “I don't know if he has ‘good intentions to help people’ or maliciously sabotaging the entire epidemic prevention work.”

He added: “We must not be lenient when it comes to the overall epidemic prevention work—even if it involves endangering the lives of the families they take care of.”

Patrolling police officers were highly visible in Central on Feb 13

On Thursday, the social gathering rules were further tightened, allowing only a maximum of two people to gather in public, from the previous four. 

The next day, the government issued a press release, which was reported by The SUN in Tagalog (https://www.sunwebhk.com/2022/02/fdh-pinaalalahanan-bantay-laban-sa.html), warning that police would strictly enforce the law that weekend. 

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Law said: “Let everyone know that a fixed penalty of $5,000 is actually quite a pain, but we will enforce it strictly.”

Yesterday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam herself warned against violators, saying that no mercy will be shown them. She also announced that the fine will be doubled to $10,000.

According to the CE, the government learned that a lot of people still gathered in places frequented by FDHs last Sunday, despite the tightening of restrictions.

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Law said the Labour Department, together with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) “will work together and cooperate with the relevant consulates in Indonesia and the Philippines” to convince their nationals to follow the rules.

Covid patients waiting outside hospitals moved indoors as cases ease slightly

 By The SUN

All patients outside hospitals are to be moved indoors as temperatures are set to plunge

Health officials said Covid-19 patients waiting for admission in cold weather outside hospitals were to be all moved indoors Friday, as temperatures are forecast to drop to as low as 11 degrees over the weekend.

The announcement came as a total of 3629 Covid-19 cases were confirmed Friday, down nearly half from the previous day’s tally of 6,116.

However there was a record 7,600 preliminary confirmed cases, suggesting the drastic drop was more the result of late reporting rather than an actual easing in the spread of the virus.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection confirmed this, saying 4800 tests were already at the Department of Health laboratory being tested and hopefully these will be confirmed by the day’s end.  

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She urged private testing contractors to submit positive samples as soon as possible so they can be confirmed.

She said that of the confirmed cases, 52 carried the Delta strain while 2,136 cases were likely to be Omicron. The result of tests on the remaining 106 samples were still pending.

Dr Sara Ho of the Hospital Authority reported that 3,099 patients were being treated at three infectious disease centers and public hospitals while 2,200 others with mild or no symptoms are at Penny’s Bay Isolation Centre.

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For the past 24 hours, 10 more people have died. The details of the eight were announced in a press release the previous night, while the two others involved a 62-year-old man and a 96-year-old woman.

Ten other patients are in critical condition, but Dr Ho did not give particulars.

She said 251 patients had been discharged from hospitals, but they remained at full capacity because of the long waiting list for beds.

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She also said that the Hospital Authority has started vacating some indoor spaces inside hospitals like out-patient clinics, staff rooms and conference rooms, so patients need not wait outside in the cold while waiting to be admitted.

Ambulances keep arriving with residents from elderly care homes (RTHK)

Dr Ho said all the patients will be moved indoors within the day.

“It will get colder, no one wants elderly people waiting in the cold outside the hospitals so we are doing extra work to get them in. We will leave no stone unturned to get this done,” said Dr Ho.

To make room for them, she said patients in stable condition are being moved out of hospitals to isolation facilities. However, as soon as beds are vacated, she said ambulances would come in, bringing residents from elderly care homes.

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She appealed to staff managing care homes to accept patients who have recovered back in their facilities to free up much-needed hospital beds. She said the HA will send outreach teams to the care homes to support them in looking after residents.

An additional 30 care homes have reported infections among residents and/or staff, according to Dr Chuang, making a total of 150 struggling to cope with outbreaks from the fifth wave.

Dr Ho also appealed to the public not to send any more stuff to hospitals like warm clothes and masks as they have sufficient supplies. She thanked the kind-hearted donors but said the donations hamper the work of frontline staff.

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·         She reiterated an invitation to private doctors to do parttime work for the HA, particularly in the accident and emergency stations.

Asked by a reporter about complaints that patients at Penny’s Bay are not being tested regularly, Dr Ho said they will contact the contractors and tell them to improve their service.

Another question concerning the number of foreign domestic helpers among the confirmed cases was answered by Dr Chuang. She confirmed that FDHs are among the confirmed cases, but said she did not have the exact figures.

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Asked about reports that some FDHs are stuck outside hospitals with nowhere to go, Dr Chuang said they should remain where they are and wait for the CHP to contact them on when they can move to an isolation facility.

‘We will show no mercy,’ CE warns FDHs who violate gathering rules

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

CE Lam also tells employers to ask their helpers not to go out on Sunday

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has issued the strongest warning yet to foreign domestic helpers not to violate anti-gathering restrictions, amid the most severe Covid-19 spread ever experienced in Hong Kong.

Speaking at a press conference earlier this evening, CE Lam vowed law enforcers will “show no mercy” when they enforce the tough new measures that had been put in place since the other Thursday, Feb 10.

“On Sunday (Feb 13) we saw a large number of foreign domestic helpers congregating. I would say that this Sunday when we take law enforcement action we will not show mercy anymore. If we see more than two people together we will mete out penalty tickets which will cost $10k out of pocket.”

The CE also took the unprecedented step of asking employers to make their domestic helpers stay at home on their day off.

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“I would like to appeal to the public again to refrain from going out as much as possible,” she said. “And if you have hired foreign domestic helpers please do your best to ask your domestic helper to stay at home.”

But the Labour Department also admonished employers not to require FDHs to work on their rest day.

“An employer who compels his or her FDH to work on a rest day without the agreement of the FDH or fails to grant rest days to the FDH is in breach of the Employment Ordinance and is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a maximum fine of $50,000,” it added.

The chief executive's warning came just hours after a group of migrant domestic workers held their own online press conference to decry being targeted by police and other law enforcers on their day off.

Last Sunday, a total of 17 FDHs were issued penalty tickets of $5,000 each for violating the gathering ban and for not wearing face masks, and issued verbal warnings to 13 others. Three were reportedly arrested for allegedly hawking food without a permit.

Police enforcers issued 17 penalty tickets costing $5k each to FDHs last Sunday

CE Lam also repeated a call for everyone to get vaccinated, saying the government is targeting a vaccination rate of 90% by the end of February. As of yesterday, she said the vaccination rate had reached 84.9%, so there is a chance that the target will be reached.

She also announced that the vaccination rate among the elderly has increased significantly. The rate for those aged 70-79 is now at 60%, and 40% for those aged 80 and above.

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She issued the calls after warning that the fifth wave of the epidemic has yet to peak. So far, she said that from Feb 1 to 16 alone, the city has recorded a total of 15,139 cases, which is nearly equal the number recorded in the past two years of the pandemic.

Separately, the CE confirmed the plan to conduct mandatory universal testing but did not give a specific time frame, saying the government is still working on the plan.

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But she said it will involve more than a single test, like what was done in Macau. It could be two, or even three tests of each person, according to her.

The CE also dismissed talks of a citywide lockdown, saying it is not part of the plan.

But to be able to start universal testing, she said the government must first ensure there are enough isolation facilities for those additional cases that might be uncovered during the exercise.

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She said that within the next eight to 10 days the government hopes to enhance its capability to provide more isolation places for patients who have mild or no symptoms. 

Apart from additional units at Penny’s Bay there will be 27,000 hotel rooms, as well as 3,000 flats in three public housing blocks that will be used exclusively for this purpose.

As the spread of the virus is not expected to be contained until after two to three months, the Legislative Council passed an emergency regulation ordinance Cap241 (2)(1) to delay the Chief Executive election from March 27, 2022 to May 8, 2022.

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The nomination process will now start from Apr 3 to 16 and canvassing of votes will be from Apr 27 to May 8.

The CE said this is not the first time that an election is being postponed because of the pandemic. In July 2020, when the third wave of the pandemic was at its peak, the CE and Executive Council passed the same emergency regulation to delay the Legco elections by one year.