HK moves to secure food supplies as Covid outbreak shuts down slaughterhouse

By The SUN

The city's main slaughterhouse will close from tonight after dozens of staff contracted Covid-19

Hong Kong is opening new routes for food shipments from China in a bid to further stabilize the supply of goods, including vegetables, fruits and other daily necessities.

The need for a new supply routes became more pronounced with the announcement earlier today that the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse will be closed from midnight tonight after more than 190 of its staff tested positive for Covid-19.

The abattoir will be cleaned and sterilized over the weekend while staff are made to undergo Covid-19 tests. It is not yet clear when it will reopen.

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The overland cross-border route through which much of Hong Kong’s food supply from the Mainland used to pass, was shut down early this month after a number of drivers tested positive for Covid-19.

According to a statement issued by the government the supplies of meat and fresh produce have so far remained stable. Vegetable shipments from the mainland as of yesterday were reportedly at 90 percent of last year’s daily average, while chilled poultry and chilled meat were at 70 percent.

There is a marked decrease in the supply of fresh vegetables in supermarkets

This was in part due to the Sea Express project, which transports food supplies from the Mainland to Hong Kong by sea, and was launched jointly by Hong Kong, Guangdong and Shenzhen officials. 

The "Sea Express" has daily links between Shenzhen Yantian International Container Terminals and  Hong Kong Kwai Tsing Container Terminals (KTCT), the Shenzhen DaChan Bay Terminals and KTCT and the Shenzhen Mawan Container Terminal with the Hong Kong River Trade Terminal.

To facilitate the flow of goods, mainland officials set up green channels where the loading of ships and trailers for operations between Shenzhen and Hong Kong were given priority.

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“Dedicated berths, supporting equipment and yard facilities have been assigned for ensuring that ships carrying cross-boundary goods have priority for berthing operations. More routes are expected to be launched shortly, with a view to supplying more types of goods from Guangdong Province and the Shenzhen Municipality to Hong Kong,” the statement said.

Separately the Hong Kong government has been working with the Shenzhen municipal government on looking at ways of transporting food and goods supplies by railways. 

This morning, various government departments led by the Transport and Housing Bureau, together with the MTR Corporation, conducted a site visit at Lo Wu and will follow this up with talks with their Mainland counterparts on arranging trial operations as soon as possible.

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Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety has also set up an inspection point in its existing Food Control Office at Kwai Chung Customhouse to expedite the entry of fresh food.

According to Mainland authorities, the three terminals of Yantian, DaChan Bay and Mawan port transported around 2,000 tons of supplies to Hong Kong yesterday (Feb 24), among which were more than 300 tons were fresh food and more than 1,700 tons were non-fresh food.

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Since the launch of the services, more than 7,500 tons of cargo, have been shipped to Hong Kong from the three terminals, of which 900 tons consisted of fresh food.

With the closure of the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse, the government said it is discussing with Mainland officials on deploying professional and experienced personnel to Hong Kong to help with the resumption of local fresh meat supply as soon as possible.

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Meantime, the government has requested other meat provider and agents to increase the importation of chilled meat to ensure a steady supply in the city.

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HK reports 21,979 new Covid-19 cases, 59 deaths

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Many of those who have passed away or are in serious condition are elderly patients

Hong Kong has tallied a staggering 21,729 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, an increase of nearly 30% in just one day.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the number of cases that the health system managed to confirm was 10,010, already a record rise from yesterday’s 8,798 infections.

But because of the backlog in confirming cases, she said the CHP relies more on the trend shown by the daily reported cases instead of the confirmed infections.

Yesterday, the total number of cases reported was 17,269 so today’s surge, according to her showed an “exponential rise” within just a day.

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Today’s cases are just a few thousand fewer than the 28,000 daily infection rate forecast for mid to late March in a study conducted by the University of Hong Kong, whose medical faculty dean suggested a citywide lockdown as the only way to stop the contagion.

Of the total confirmed cases, only four were reported, and the rest were all locally acquired. Nine had the Delta variant, and 5,086 were suspected Omicron cases. The rest were still unclassified or the viral load was insufficient for testing.

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Dr Lau Ka-hin, a chief manager at the Hospital Authority, said 47 patients passed away in the past 24 hours, but there were an additional 12 who died between Feb 21 and 23 whose cases were not reported on time.

Dr Lau has the grim task of reporting on the daily death toll

Today’s cases included a nine-year-old boy whose death was reported yesterday. The boy who had a genetic muscular disease collapsed at home Wednesday night and was admitted to United Christian Hospital in the early hours yesterday. He tested positive for Covid-19 during pre-admission screening.

His condition continued to worsen and he died yesterday morning. His case has been referred to the coroner to ascertain the exact cause of death.

Dr Lau reported that 51 other patients were in critical condition, while a further 47 were seriously ill.

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Among the critical patients is a five-year-old girl who had fever for a few days before she was rushed to Queen Mary Hospital after she vomited and had chest discomfort, with a rapid heartbeat. She is now in pediatric intensive care at Children’s Hospital.

Dr Lau said the girl’s parents, sister and a domestic worker all tested positive in rapid antigen tests. The mother and the sister have positive symptoms.

He reiterated that a four-year-old boy who was also rushed to Queen Mary after suffering convulsions and was tested positive, is now in stable condition.

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As for the 47 patients who recently died, he said they were aged 9 (the boy) to 100 years old. Twenty-seven were males and 20 were females.

Only four of them had two doses of a vaccine, while one had one jab. The rest were all unvaccinated.

Most, or 41 of them, were above 65 years old. The six younger ones, apart from the boy, were aged 48 to 64, and had various ailments, including terminal renal failure, stroke, diabetes, cramps and seizures, while one had a drug abuse problem.

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A big number of them – 27 – were staying in residential care homes.

As to the 12 whose deaths were not reported on time, Dr Lau said they were aged 45 to 95, and comprised eight males and four females.

On a brighter note, Dr Lau reported that through a $50 million donation from the Li Ka Shing Foundation, some 200 cardiovascular patients in public hospitals who need surgery will be moved to five private hospitals, including Gleneagles and Hong Kong Sanatorium.

He repeated an appeal for more private doctors to help their colleagues in the public hospitals cope with the surge in Covid patients.

“Many colleagues have been working day and night without rest,” Dr Lau said.

The problem has been made worse by the infection of nearly 2,000 public health care workers, mostly from the community. Dr Lau said some of them have returned to work, while others are still in isolation.

He said he was unsure as to how many close contacts have been identified as a result of these infections.

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'Vaccine pass,' sinimulan nang ipatupad

Mga paalala tungkol sa Vaccine Pass sa Jollibee sa North Point.

Nagsimula na ngayon (Feb. 24) ang paggamit ng Vaccine Pass upang hadlangang makapasok ang mga hindi pa nabakunahan sa halos lahat ng mga pampublikong lugar sa Hong Kong.

Ito ay isa sa mga ipinatutupad na tuntunin laban sa pagkalat ng Covid-19.

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Ang mga lugar na kailangan ng Vaccine Pass ay mga catering business gaya ng restaurant, amusement game center, bathhouse, fitness center, amusement place, lugar ng public entertainment, party room,  nightclub, karaoke, laruan ng mahjong, club house, lugar pampalakasan, swimming pool, cruise ship, mga lugar na pinagdarausan ng event, simbahan,  beauty parlor, barber shop at hair salon, shopping mall, department store, supermarket, palengke, hotel at guesthouse.

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Ipinatutupad din ang Vaccine Pass sa mga paaralan, opisina ng gobyerno, ospital, at sa mga care home para sa matatanda at mga may kapansanan.

Ang mga lugar na ito ay obligadong maniguro na lahat ng pumapasok sa kanila ay bakunado sa pamamagitan ng scanning sa kanilang pasukan. 

Hindi kasama sa kanila ang mga palengke, shopping mall, department store, supermarket, hotel at guesthouse kung saan mas praktikal na gawin ang spot check sa mga taong naroroon.

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Halimbawa, ang mga pumapasok sa mga kainan ay hindi lang kailangang mag-scan ng kanilang Leave Home Safe app sa naka-paskel na QR code para dito, kailangan din itong idaan sa isa pang scanner na magpapakita ng kanilang sertipiko ng bakuna o exemption.

Ang mga nabakunahan sa labas ng Hong Kong ay obligado ring magpakita ng kanilang sertipiko. Kung sila ay hindi bakunado dahil exempted o edad 12 pababa – obligado silang isulat ang kanilang personall na detalye sa isang form para dito.

Mga bakunado na lang ang maaring pumasok sa maraming lugar simula ngayon

Sa mga mall at iba pang lugar  kailangan pa ding mag-scan ng QR code gamit ang kanilang LHS app. Hindi sila kailangang magpakita ng kanilang patunay para sa bakuna, pero dapat tandaan na may  magpapatrulya na pwedeng hingiin ito pagpasok nila sa loob.

Kapag wala silang maipakitang patunay na sila ay nabakunahan na, o hindi sila exempted sa bakuna, ang nakatakdang multa ay $5,000, ayon sa Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F).

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Nagbabala si Chief Executive Carrie Lam na dodoblehin ang multa, pero hindi pa sigurado kung kailan ito ipatutupad

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17,269 Covid-19 cases reported, 50 deaths including 9-year-old boy

 By Daisy CL Mandap

 

The 9-year-old boy tested positive after being taken to United Christian Hospital unconscious

A staggering 17,269 Covid-19 cases were reported over the past 24 hours, according to Hong Kong health officials.

However, only 8,798 cases could be confirmed in time for Thursday’s press conference, which is still the highest on record.

According to Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection, only three of the cases were imported while the rest were all locally acquired.

Nineteen carried the Delta variant while the rest are likely Omicron cases or the test result has yet to come out or could not be determined.

A record tally of 50 deaths was also reported, comprising 35 men and 15 women who were all either elderly or suffered from serious ailments. Only six of them had two doses of a vaccine, while two each had one dose.

He also said there were 17 additional deaths that happened on Feb 21 and 22 and were not reported on time. They comprised 15 males and two females aged 68 to 93.

Apart from these patients, a nine-year-old boy who passed away at United Christian Hospital  this morning will be listed tomorrow as among the Covid-19 fatalities after he tested positive prior to admission.

Dr Lau Ka-hin of the Hospital Authority said the boy had suffered from a genetic muscular disease since age 3 but was otherwise healthy. He collapsed at home Wednesday night and was rushed to hospital unconscious. Efforts to revive him failed.

“The parents told us the patient had some tiredness and a decrease in appetite. But there was no other respiratory tract infection symptoms, no fever, no convulsion,” he said.

In line with hospital policy he was tested for Covid-19 and was found positive. He did not have any vaccine dose.

Dr Lau said that since the boy passed away shortly after admission to hospital the case has been passed on to the coroner to ascertain the cause of death.

He was the fourth child with Covid-19 to pass away in the past few days. The others were a four-year-old boy, a three-year-old girl and an 11-month-old baby girl.

Separately Dr Lau confirmed reports that a four-year-old boy who developed a fever last night and tested positive on a rapid test was taken comatose to Yan Chai hospital at 1am.

“But upon admission he was stable,” he said. The boy had no vaccination.

More than 1,400 patients with mild or no symptoms are in isolation at Penny's Bay

Meanwhile, a total of 4,462 patients are being treated in public hospitals while a further 1,650 are in isolation either at Penny’s Bay or Dorsett Tsuen Wan Hotel.

From tomorrow, he said the 300-bed Tin Shui Wai Hospital will be converted into a Covid hospital. Its accident and emergency department will only accept Covid patients.

Its existing patients who are not infected with Covid-19 will be gradually moved to Tuen Mun Hospital.

He also said that following the HA’s appeal, Baptist Hospital in Kowloon Tong has agreed to set aside 12 beds for Non-Covid patients who are staying in public hospitals in the West Kowloon cluster.

Earlier, St Paul’s Hospital in Causeway Bay agreed to take in 20 non-Covid patients from public hospitals in the Hong Kong East cluster.

Dr Lau said he hoped more private hospitals would follow suit, and help the HA cope with the mounting number of Covid-19 patients that need medical care.

He also aired an appeal for patients not to flock to Kwong Wah Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital as both are reporting long waits in their respective emergency rooms.

He said those who test positive on a rapid antigen test should undergo a PCR test to confirm a result. If they test positive again, they should go to any of the nine designated clinics for medical consultation.

Only those who are very ill should be taken to hospital. Those who are experiencing mild or no symptoms are referred to an isolation facility or told to go back home and isolate for 14 days.

 “Do not call an ambulance to take them to the hospital” he said, adding that 30% of calls made to the Fire Department are from asymptomatic people.

Dr Lau said 1,688 hospital staff have come down with Covid. If they test negative on the 7^th day using the rapid antigen test, they are obliged to call the department in charge so they can go back the work.

He deflected questions on whether this would put patients at risk, saying 98% of all health care workers are vaccinated. They must also test negative before each shift to make sure they won’t be spreading the virus to patients and other people.

Undersecretary for Food and Health Dr Chui Tak-yi opened the press conference by saying more than 60,000 cases have been reported so far in the fifth wave of the pandemic.

He also reminded people that the more stringent social distancing measures came into effect today, as well as the vaccine pass scheme that allows only vaccinated people to enter restaurants and other mass venues such as supermarkets and malls.

He again reminded people to get vaccinated and stay at home as much as possible.

Employers warned they could be fined $100k if they terminate FDHs with Covid-19

.By The SUN

If you test positive for Covid-29 and are terminated by your employer because of this, they are violating Hong Kong law.

You may approach the Labour Department for assistance, and your employer might end up paying a fine of up to $100,000.

This can be gleaned from a reminder issued by the Labour Department today to employers.

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Labour said employers “should not dismiss foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) who have contracted COVID-19 and should continue to observe the requirements under the Employment Ordinance (EO) and the Standard Employment Contract (SEC) amidst the pandemic.”

The employers may also be charged for possible violation of the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (DDO), Labour added.

“Under the EO, an employer is prohibited from terminating the contract of employment of an employee on his/her paid sickness day, except in cases of summary dismissal due to the latter's serious misconduct,” it said. “An employer who contravenes relevant provisions of the EO commits an offence and is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a maximum fine of $100,000.”

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In addition, if these employers are convicted, they would no longer be able to hire FDHs.  “If an employer has breached the EO, he/she will not be considered eligible to employ an FDH for a period of time and his/her visa applications for FDHs will be refused.”

Labour said the proper way for an employer to treat FDHs who get infected with Covid-19 is to grant sick leave and sickness allowance to the FDH.

“Where a sick FDH has not accumulated sufficient paid sickness days to cover the period of his/her sick leave, the Government appeals to the employer to be compassionate and consider granting the FDH paid sick leave,” Labour said. “In addition, according to the requirements in the SEC, employers should provide to their FDHs free and suitable accommodation as well as free medical treatment.”

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It reminded employers that "FDHs assist families of Hong Kong to do household chores and look after the elderly and children. Their contribution to Hong Kong is significant.”

But the pandemic had reduced the number of FDHs to about 340,000 in January 2020 from the peak of about 400,000.

“Mutual support and understanding are all the more necessary in face of the pandemic. To meet the needs of local families, we must strengthen support and protection for FDHs in order to maintain Hong Kong as an attractive place for FDHs to work,” Labour said.

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FDHs and employers may:

• call the FDH hotline at 2157 9537 (handled by 1823), 
• send an email to fdh-enquiry@labour.gov.hk. 
• contact the LD through the online form on the dedicated Portal (www.fdh.labour.gov.hk). 

For information relating to COVID-19 and the DDO, employers may visit the Equal Opportunities Commission's website (www.eoc.org.hk/en/news-and-events/covid-19-and-discrimination).

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HK posts new daily record of 8,674 Covid-19 cases, 24 deaths

By The SUN

 

The mortality rate is 18x more for the unvaccinated, new data shows (File)

Health officials reported a new record-high 8,674 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, with 24 related deaths. The cases included three imported cases and 8,671 that were locally acquired.

Thirty carried the Delta variant, while 5,428 were likely Omicron cases. Another seven cases have yet to be determined, while 96 do not have enough viral load for genetic sequencing. 

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said data from the fifth wave of the outbreak showed that there is an 18 times difference in mortality between the vaccinated and unvaccinated.

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For those over 80 years old, the difference in mortality rate between the two groups is four times, showing that even for this age group, vaccines greatly reduce the chances of death.

Dr Chuang said that as of yesterday, a total of 153 deaths have been reported in the fifth wave of which 90 involved residents of care homes, 61 aged over 70 and another 29 aged over 80. 

She said that more than 300 elderly homes across the city have been hit by Covid-19, and those involved are more than 300 workers and 900 residents.

Most of those who died were elderly people, and three were children.

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Chuang said only seven of the first 102 deaths had received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, while the rest were unvaccinated or received the first jab only. 

She said the mortality rate of the fifth wave of the Covid-19 outbreak is about 0.3 percent, while the cumulative mortality rate of the first four outbreaks was 2.2 percent. 

Dr Lau Ka-hin from the Hospital Authority said that the 24 deaths reported today comprised 16 men and eight women aged 52 to 97. Among them, 15 were from elderly care homes. Six received two doses of a Covid vaccine, while one had one dose. 

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Three patients were aged below 60 years old, and all had chronic ailments.

One was 52 years old and had diabetes and kidney failure; the other was 58 and had a stroke and liver problems, while the last was 59 years old with diabetes and did not have any medical record and probably did not take any medication for his illness.

Dr Lau said more than 4,200 Covid-19 patients are hospitalized, of whom 24 are in critical condition, and 43 are in serious condition. 

Another 1,600 are isolated at Penny's Bay and 240 in Dorsett Tsuen Wan Hotel Hong Kong.

Dr Lau also announced that two more clinics have been added to previous seven which cater exclusively to Covid-19 patients with mild or no symptoms. These are the Yau Ma Tei Jockey Club Clinic and the Cheung Sha Wan Government Clinic.

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So far, 6,300 patients had sought treatment at the clinics which started operating only on Wednesday.

CHP controller Dr Edwin Tsui said that from today, all those who received an SMS informing of their positive result will be sent a form to fill indicating where they are located, and the number of persons living with them.

They will also be sent tracking wristbands through a logistics company.

Dr Tsui said the government is still short of isolation facilities so only those who are seriously ill or belong to the high-risk groups will be taken to hospitals.

Those who have mild or no symptoms should self-isolate at home, and as much as possible stay in just one room and use their own toilet. If they must share, they should make sure the toilet is disinfected thoroughly after each use.

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Court rejects Filipina asylum seeker's latest bid to keep case alive

Court again rejects Filipina asylum-seeker's attempt to keep her case alive.

The Court of First Instance (CFI) has refused to change its decision stripping a Filipina, who is seeking asylum in Hong Kong since 2009, of her right to be heard in court, saying there is nothing in her latest petition that would suggest such change.

Jamaicha B. Bansiles, who arrived as a domestic helper in 2006 and had been overstaying since 2007, was appealing a ruling by Judge Russell Coleman of the Court of First Instance which forbade her from initiating legal proceedings on her case in the next five years without the CFI’s permission, and told her to pay the court’s costs of $35,000.

In that decision, handed down on Jan 31, Judge Coleman sought to end Bansiles’ attempts to keep her case alive in the judicial system, “even after she had exhausted all available judicial procedures to overturn the decision of the Torture Claim Appeal Board/Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office (“the Board”) by way of judicial review.”

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“Indeed, in the present context, it is all the more important to bring home the message that habitually and persistently instituting vexation litigations would be met with appropriate costs orders,”  he added in that decision.

In her new application filed only 10 days later, Bansiles claimed that the court did not consider that she would face serious risk of harm if sent back to her country, that her asylum claim is genuine, that she feared her life is in danger, and that she is not satisfied with the previous assessment of her claim.

She also said she learned about that decision only from The SUN Hong Kong (read the story here: https://www.sunwebhk.com/2022/02/court-shuts-down-filipinas-asylum-bid.html).

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But in his new decision dated Feb. 16, 2022, Judge Coleman said Bansiles “continues to focus on her previous underlying claim to non-refoulement protection, which has been addressed on numerous previous occasions through the Board and the Court’s appellate process.”

He also said that Bansiles’ claims had already been denied by the Court of Final Appeal, after which “the Defendant then applied for an extension of time on 11 occasions to submit further evidence, but failed to do so.”

“When the Director (of Immigration) considered that there was no significant change of circumstances which would give the intended subsequent claim any realistic prospect of success, the Defendant’s intended challenge to that decision brought in HCAL 1746/2020 failed to identify any proper intended grounds of review,” he added

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Judge Coleman also noted that Bansiles’ filing was “strikingly similar” to that in another case pending before him.

He noted the similarity in “both in the handwriting on the actual Form 27A as well as in the ‘grounds’ typed in the separate document said to identify the basis for leave to commence fresh proceedings.”

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