All non-exempted Hongkongers need to get 3rd vaccine dose by May 31

By The SUN

Restaurants are now actively enforcing the vaccine pass for all dine-in customers

Everyone in Hong Kong who has had two doses of a vaccine must get a booster shot by the end of May unless they have tested positive lately, or have a medical record showing they are exempt from vaccination.

Previously, the deadline for getting a third dose under the vaccine pass scheme which restricts entry to many public premises to vaccinated individuals was set for the end of June this year.

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A government statement issued Sunday said more people have been getting themselves vaccinated, and there are enough doses to inoculate everyone by the deadline.

The statement said the nine-month grace period previously given to people to get their third dose will be cut down to six months.

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However, those who had their second jab less than six months before May 31 are still exempt from the booster deadline.

In the statement, the government reiterated that those who have recently recovered from Covid-19 are exempt from getting the third dose if they have already received two jabs.

If they only had one jab before testing positive for Covid-19, they should get their second dose six months after recovery. This does not apply to those aged 12 to 17 who had received the BioNTech vaccine.

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Those who never had any vaccination should get their first dose six months after recovery.

The government said a QR code for those who have recovered from Covid-19 is being developed, and will likely be launched in May.

Recovered persons may use this QR code to enter premises covered by the vaccine pass add their recovery status to their vaccination record in the LeaveHomeSafe app.

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But before obtaining this QR code, recovered persons can present any proof of infection or recovery, such as a discharge letter, SMS/electronic/paper record of a positive PCR test result, proof of report of a positive rapid test result, an isolation order issued by the Department of Health, or any similar document issued by government authorities.

Mere photos of a positive rapid test result will not qualify as proof.

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For those who hold a medical exemption certificate issued by a doctor, this can be used for vaccine pass only within the specified validity period.

Doctors who issue medical exemption certificates to recovered patients must conform to guidelines to be issued by the DH.

Under the vaccine pass, only vaccinated individuals will be allowed entry to most public premises, including restaurants, schools, government-run leisure venues, supermarkets, malls and other private premises where large crowds gather.

CE Lam gives elderly people a pep talk during a vaccination drive (File)

Earlier today, Chief Executive Carrie Lam ruled out compulsory vaccination for elderly people saying that "from the medical, moral and personal-choice points of viee, vaccination should be administered only with consent."

However, since the fifth wave has resulted in a high mortality rate among the elderly, especially those in care homes, she said the government can "require them to get jabbed more forcefully."

Of the more than 5,000 people with Covid-19 who have died in the fifth wave, more than 90% are aged 65 and above.

Lam said around the vaccination rate for those 70 years and older is now at 70%, meaning about 280,000 of them have yet to get their first jab.

FDH numbers drop to record low since pandemic began

       

Domestic helper does her marketing early to avoid crowds

Obstacles in coming to Hong Kong due to the Covid-19 pandemic have brought down the number of  Filipino domestic helpers by 9.06 percent to 187,002 last February, from 206,481 in February 2021, figures from the Immigration Department show.

This is the lowest number recorded since the coronavirus was first detected in Hong Kong more than two years ago. From a high of 219,728 recorded at the end of January 2020, there has now been an overall drop of 32,726 in the number of Filipino DHs in Hong Kong, or 14.89%. 

The decline was not limited to Filipinos, who had to face two flight bans and a number of airline flight suspensions during the period, as the total number of foreign domestic helpers fell by 10.4 per cent from 370,556 as of Feb. 28, 2021 to 332,184 this year.

From a high of 400,121 recorded in January 2020, the drop overall was double that for the Filipino DHs. As of the latest tally in February this year, the number fell to 332,184 or a loss of 67,937.

The Indonesian DH population slipped by 8.9 percent from 155,477 in February last year to 137,788, while the Indian ranks thinned by 16 per cent from 4,372 to 3,665. Other nationalities suffered a loss of 12 per cent from 4226 to 3729.

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With similar declines in the other nationalities, the Philippines retained the number one rank among FDH-sending countries, accounting for 56.3 per cent of all FDHs in Hong Kong this year, up slightly from 55.72 per cent in 2021.

The Filipinos began the year in review with a slight bump in numbers, rising from 206,481 in February, to 207,353 in March, and 207,055 in April.

From there, however, the number went steadily downhill, a result of the first flight ban that took effect on April 20, 2021.

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The Hong Kong government had initially banned for 14-days all incoming flights from the Philippines, India and Pakistan as; these countries were classified as “extremely high risk”. In addition, visitors who stayed in these countries for at least two hours in the past 21 days were not allowed to board planes bound for Hong Kong.

The two-week ban was extended, until it was lifted on Aug. 9, 2021, but only for those who had  been fully vaccinated and tested negative in RT-PCR test within 72 hours before their flights. 

But the number of Filipino DHs continued to decline at the rate of a thousand a month -- to 198,625 in August -- this time due to difficulties in booking  quarantine hotels, where they needed to spend 21 days after arrival.

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On Jan 5, 2022, Hong Kong announced its second two-week ban not just from the Philippines, India and Pakistan, but also from Australia, Canada, France, Britain and the United States, in response to the fifth wave of the pandemic -- the spread of the Omicron variant.

That month saw the number of Filipinos drop at the rate of two thousand monthly, hitting 189,887 in January 22 to 187,002 in February.

The new flight ban had since been extended to April 22, although Chief Executive Carrie Lam has hinted that it may be lifted soon.

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"While the demand for migrant domestic workers remains," said Eman Villanueva, vice chairman of the Filipino Migrant Workers' Union, "Filipinos were unable to take the job because of the flight bans."

He added: "We worry most for those who have spent so much to come to Hong Kong but remain stranded in the Philippines. They are mostly buried in debts because of the placement fees and other expenses they incurred but are unable to leave the country. Many employers are backing out and are just looking for applicants who are already in Hong Kong."

FMWU's Eman Villanueva

Villanueva also sees another reason for the  drop in FDH numbers.

"The number of OFWs in Hong Kong has been steadily decreasing since late 2019 at the height of the protest movement in Hong Kong. Some OFWs decided to go home for good fearing that the situation here will worsen. Some left because their employers left Hong Kong for good," Villanueva said.

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"When the pandemic started, the number of local residents losing their jobs also increased," he added.  "We also worry for those whose contracts were prematurely terminated as their employers become unemployed or decided to leave Hong Kong. 

"They are forced to go back home unprepared and most likely will remain unemployed because of the more serious economic situation in the Philippines brought about by months of lockdowns and failed pandemic response of the government," Villanueva said.

Employment agencies urge CE to lift travel ban, cut quarantine for FDHs

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

The big drop in the FDH population is blamed on the flight ban and strict anti-pandemic rules (File)

A group of employment agencies has joined the chorus to get Chief Executive Carrie Lam to reconsider some of the government’s anti-pandemic measures, particularly those concerning foreign domestic helpers.

Thomas Chan, chairperson of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies, says his group has written a letter to CE Lam to ask, among other things, to reduce the hotel quarantine for incoming FDHs to seven days, plus seven days of home observation.

His group is also urging the government to immediately lift the travel ban on nine countries, including the Philippines, which sends the most number of FDHs to Hong Kong; and cancel the flight suspension scheme for airlines that bring in a number of infected passengers.

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The HKUEA’s letter is among several sent to CE Lam lately, urging her to ease restrictions on travel and social distancing to prevent the city becoming further isolated from the rest of the world.

A well-regarded study by the Hong Kong University also predicted that about half of the city’s population had already been infected by the coronavirus by the middle of this month, so there was no more need to pursue a strict containment policy.

CE Lam has responded to the clamor by saying that she was reconsidering the strict anti-pandemic restrictions and will announce new measures either Sunday or Monday. This was despite her earlier pronouncement that all the restrictions will remain in place until Apr 20, including the flight ban.

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Chan pointed out that even the Centre for Health Protection has relaxed its treatment protocol for infected patients. Once they test negative on the sixth and seventh day from testing positive, they could end their isolation without informing authorities.

He pointed out the FDHs who are in quarantine are not even positive cases. In fact, they would have tested negative at least four times on their seventh day: prior to boarding their flight to Hong Kong, on their arrival, and on days 6 and 7 of their hotel quarantine.

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“How ridiculous it is that an infected person can go free after seven days while a healthy person must remain under quarantine for 14 days,” he said.

Chan says it's ridiculous to keep healthy people under 14-day quarantine

But to further allay concerns that the FDHs might be harboring the virus for some reason, Chan said his group is willing to require their recruits to undergo a booster shot if at least three months have lapsed since they had their second dose.

Chan said the highly restrictive policy adopted by the government towards the entry of FDHs has led to a severe shortfall in their number.

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Such restrictions included designating only two or three quarantine facilities for thousands of FDHs waiting to come in; and frequent cancellation of flights from the Philippines and Indonesia, the two biggest suppliers of migrant workers in the city, because they brought in a number of infected travelers.

Chan cited Immigration figures showing that the FDH population has dropped to its lowest level since the start of the pandemic.

“From the latest figure released in February by Immigration, the total number of FDHs reached its lowest at 332,184 from almost 400,000 two years ago, a drop of 67,816 or 17%,” he said.

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In the last five months alone, or from November last year to the end of February, he said the figure fell by 17,866.

As if the strict anti-pandemic restrictions were not enough, Chan said Immigration also implemented the discriminatory policy of rejecting new visa applications by FDHs on the ground that they were job-hopping, or leaving their employment on a whim.

He said nearly 8,000 migrant workers failed to get new employment visas on this basis alone last year.

Another reason for the decline in the number of FDHs that he cited is third-country recruitment. “Workers are going to Europe or Canada for higher pay if compared with Hong Kong’s wages,” he said.

Still another reason was that because of the long wait they were made to endure, may workers decided to just cancel their applications to Hong Kong and opted to go to places in the Middle East, Taiwan or Singapore.

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Uncertain of when they might be able to go for a vacation again in their home countries, many other FDHs who were already in Hong Kong have decided to go home for good.

Chan said HKUEA’s letter was also sent to Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong, Secretary for Health Sophia Chan and Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung.

Covid-19 caseload drops to 16,597

By The SUN

 

The latest daily tally is the lowest since record figures were reported in the first week of March 

The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Hong Kong dropped to 16,597 today, Saturday. It was the first time that the daily tally fell to below 20,000 since cases surged to unprecedented levels early this month.

But speaking at today’s press briefing, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection again warned of complacency, saying the spread of the virus remains severe and there may still be a lot of silent carriers in the community.

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The additional cases took the city’s tally from the fifth wave of the pandemic to 1,020,910.

The death toll continues to cause concern, with 243 additional fatalities being reported today. Of the newly reported deaths, 182 were recorded yesterday, while there was a belated reporting of an additional 61 that happened between Mar 11 and 17.

Dr Chuang said there were 7,528 infections detected yesterday through PCR tests while the remaining 9,069 came from rapid antigen tests.

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The day’s tally included 14 imported cases, of which all but one came from Indonesia. Eleven tested positive on arrival while two were found to carry the virus while in quarantine. Another lone passenger from Italy also tested positive while in quarantine.

According to the Hospital Authority, 10,624 patients were being treated at public hospitals and the infection treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo as of this morning. A total of 1,184 patients were discharged throughout the day.

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Of those who are in hospital, 63 more patients were listed in critical condition and 119 in serious condition. The latest bulletin showed 115 patients were in intensive care.

Among the 182 people who were reported to have died in the past 24 hours, 103 were males and 79 were females, aged 30 to 109 years old.

Five fatalities were below 60 years old, including the youngest patient who was in a care home with a chronic glucose problem and psychiatric issues. The case has been referred to the coroner for further investigation.

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The others all had chronic ailments like cancer, liver and heart problems.

Most – or 169 – of the fatalities received no vaccination or had just one dose of a vaccine, 20 had two doses while three had booster shots.

The additional 61 cases whose deaths were not reported earlier were made up of 43 males and 18 females aged from 51 to 99 years old.

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The CHP has listed a total of 5,437 patients with Covid-19 who died in the Omicron outbreak, for a death rate of 0.5%. Of the fatalities, 27 died at home or outside a public hospital and were diagnosed during an autopsy.

Including those from the previous waves of the pandemic, the total death toll now stands at 5,650.

About 90% of all of those who died were unvaccinated or had only one dose of a vaccine. They were aged 11 months to 112 years old, with a median age of 85.

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Meanwhile the Hospital Authority has reported more patients being given either of two medicines that experts say work very well in treating early-stage Covid-19.

Those prescribed Merck’s Molnupiravir reached a total of 8,500 with 1,000 patients first receiving the drug yesterday.

Those who were given Pfizer’s Pavlovic rose to 1,000 after only two days of the drug being administered to patients.

HK to hand out $24k in subsidy to 1.3M workers

By The SUN

Restaurant workers are among those qualified for the new employment subsidy

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has unveiled a new round of subsidy for small businesses affected by the fifth wave of the pandemic, estimated to cost the government between $26 billion to $31 billion.

Under the new employment support scheme, stricken businesses will be given financial help over three months, or from May to July this year, so they can continue employing and paying their workers up to $8,000 each per month.

Those qualified to get the subsidy are employees earning no more than $30,000 a month, who according to CE Lam, make up 75% of the city’s workforce. Between 1.1million to 1.3 million workers are expected to benefit.

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Unlike in the previous round of subsidies, workers who are aged 65 or above and do not have an MPF account as well as small business proprietors, will also be eligible.

The CE said applications which will open in April will have to be made by business owners, who must use the subsidies to pay their staff and not for any other purposes. 

She added that the scheme is intended to help small businesses hit by the Omicron outbreak, so big companies that have been relatively unscathed will not benefit.

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Among those excluded are government bodies, public institutions, supermarket and pharmaceutical chains, banks as well as telecommunications and broadcast companies.

“We will not draw a distinction between the resident status, ethnicity or background of the individuals," the CE said.

"Distinctions will be made on the basis of the industry. So for certain business sectors which are not obviously affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, they will not be eligible.”

She added the new classification was drawn up based on the feedbacks they received when the first round of employment subsidies was introduced in 2020.

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The move was announced after the government reported that the unemployment rate has risen to 4.5 percent, which Mrs Lam said was worrying. The figure was a substantial jump from the 3.9 percent recorded in the past three months.

The CE said the scheme is aimed at curbing unemployment and to boost business confidence.

Separately, she announced that applications for the one-off $10,000 subsidy for those who lost their jobs as a result of the renewed surge in cases will open from next Wednesday, Mar 23.

To qualify, applicants must have worked either full time, part-time or were self-employed for at least one month between October to December last year and must have earned between $2,700 to $30,000 a month.

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In a subsequent press conference officers from the Policy Innovation and Coordination Office and the Home Affairs Department said an applicant must also fulfill the following requirements: 

(1)   Holds a valid Hong Kong identity card;  (2)  Attains 18 years of age on or before Oct 1, 2021; (3)  Has resided in Hong Kong from Oct 1, 2021 to the date of application; (4) Is currently employed in any of the affected businesses under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance but has been asked not to work temporarily for at least 30 days prior to the date of application; (5)  Is not a recipient of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme at the time of application or benefited from any Covid relief measures previously.

Applications may be made online through the website (www.tur.gov.hk) starting from 8am on Mar 23.

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Applicants who need to be assisted in person may book an appointment through the hotline, 183 6128 starting from today and visit the designated service centres. Enquiries can also be made through the hotline or by email at enquiry@tur.gov.hk.

The service centres can be found at the following addresses:

·       Room 1501, 15/F, AT Tower, 180 Electric Road, North Point

·       Rooms 1805-06, 18/F, Wu Sang House, 655 Nathan Road, Mong Kok

·       Room 1606, 16/F, Futura Plaza, 111 How Ming Street, Kwun Tong

·       Wan Tau Tong Neighbourhood Community Centre, Wan Tau Tong Estate, Tai Po

·       1/F, Yuen Long District Sports Association Jockey Club Complex, 8 Yuen Long Tai Yuk Road, Yuen Lon

 

Covid tally hits 1M mark, deaths go past 5k

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

The daily infection rate has gone down but is still over 20,000

The total number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the Omicron-fueled fifth wave has gone past the one million mark Friday, with deaths also rising to beyond 5000.

The updated figures were announced today by Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection, who reported a daily infection tally of 20,082 which was slightly lower than the previous day’s 21,650.

The day’s total included 7,966 detected from PCR tests and 12,116 from rapid antigen tests. Three were imported cases, involving two travelers from Vietnam and one from Indonesia.

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They took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 1,004,313.

A total number of 259 deaths in public hospitals were reported along with six who died at home and were tested positive for Covid-19 at the morgue.

Including these, the death toll from the fifth wave has now risen to 5,188 for a death rate of 0.5%.

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Among the recorded fatalities were 21 who died outside of hospitals. Dr Chuang was quick to add that the deaths were not all due to Covid-19 but the deceased were infected with the virus when they died.

The patients were aged 11 months to 112 years old, with 85 as the median age. An overwhelming majority, or 95.4% of the deaths were aged 60 and above.

Among those who died, 89% were not vaccinated.

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Dr Lau Ka-hin of the Hospital Authority said the newly recorded deaths included 206 who passed on Thursday and an additional 53 cases which happened between Mar 1 and 16 and were not reported on time.

The latest cases included 122 males and 84 females aged 25 to 106 years old. All of the fatalities below 65 years old, including the youngest, had pre-existing chronic illnesses like cancer, renal failure and heart disease.

The 53 additional deaths involved 30 males and 23 females aged 62 to 103 years old.

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As of the latest records 10,533 patients are currently being treated in public hospitals and the community isolation and treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo.

Of these patients, 65 are in critical condition and 115 are in serious condition. There are 115 patients in intensive care.

Undersecretary for Food and Health Dr Chui Tak-yi said the Omicron-fueled fifth wave has been going on for more than two months now.

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The number of infections has exceeded capacity, so the government had to expand services and build more facilities for the sick.

Among these were the five new isolation centers that opened recently and three similar facilities for the elderly who are recovering but still need to be looked after.

Chui thanked the Mainland government for sending medical personnel to provide much-needed assistance to HA staff who are tending to the thousands who are in public hospitals.