New Covid-19 cases drop by nearly 100

By The SUN

 

Health officials say the number of Omicron infections is dropping slowly

Health officials reported 429 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, along with 13 related deaths. The daily infection tally is 94 less than Saturday’s figure.

Among these, 221 were confirmed by PCR tests while the remaining 208 were reported by people who took self-tests.

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A total of 19 imported cases were reported, including five passengers who came aboard flight QR818 from Doha, Qatar on Apr 23 and tested positive on arrival. The flight will be suspended for a week as a result.

Dr Albert Au of the Centre for Health Protection said the number of new cases is falling slowly although there is no indication of a rebound from the recent Easter holiday.

But he said authorities will have to observe the situation closely before deciding whether social distancing measures can be relaxed further.

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"Based on various parameters, the government will make risk assessments on the latest epidemic situation and adjust social distancing measures appropriately," he said.

Hung says anti-pandemic rules should be relaxed while post people have natural immunity

But earlier, a government health adviser said the authorities could consider speeding up the next relaxation of social distancing measures since more than half of Hong Kong’s population has already acquired natural immunity after contracting Covid-19.

Prof Ivan Hung from the University of Hong Kong cited a study made his university colleagues that showed about four million residents were infected in the Omicron outbreak, which gives them natural immunity from the coronavirus for up to a year.

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“So this will maintain for half a year, maybe a year. Therefore in these six months we have the condition to speed up the social distancing relaxation," Hung told reporters after appearing in a TV show.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said the next phase of relaxation of anti-pandemic rules will come only in late May.

The current regulations which allow only up to four people to gather in public, restaurants to open to dine-in services until 10pm, and most venues to reopen with 50% capacity, took effect only on Apr. 21.

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Hung said that if the total caseload dips to below 100, the government can ease the restrictions further as the chance of a rebound in cases would be very slim.

But he said the requirement for getting a booster shot by the end of May should be kept.

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He also said border restrictions including hotel quarantine and  flight suspensions should be kept until 90% of all the elderly and qualified children have had their first booster dose.

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Filipina DH fails to convince High Court to order review of her human trafficking claim

The High Court, where the case was resolved via a mixed personal and zoom hearing

A Filipina former domestic helper has failed to convince the High Court to review her lower court conviction for an immigration violation on the ground that she was a victim of human trafficking.

Court of First Instance Judge Russel Coleman dismissed the application of “AM” for leave to apply for judicial review because “I do not think the merits of AM’s proposed challenge are so strong as to point to the grant of the necessary significant period of extension of time.”

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Judge Coleman explained, in a ruling released on Friday: “That I do so should not be taken as a lack of sympathy for the plainly difficult situation in which AM found herself to be caught up.  … there is at least a decent argument that – whatever the basis of her own involvement in events – it was perhaps regrettable that no other persons faced prosecution for their involvement in the same events.  But I do not think that possible regret gives rise to any public law criticism.”

AM, 61, was convicted in June 2016 of “making false representation to an immigration officer” and sentenced to two months’ imprisonment. 

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She was penalized for lying to an immigration officer on Jan. 14, 2013, as she was re-entering from China, that a certain Eddie Chiang Kwun Nam was her employer.

In her appeal to the CFI,  she claimed that the crime was a result of her being a victim of trafficking.

AM said she was recruited by a Martin Ng Kwok Fai (“Martin”) to work for Eddie, supposedly on her eighth contract since arriving in Hong Kong in 2000.

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But instead of working for Eddie, Martin made her run a boarding house (at the Mainland side of Lok Ma Chau) for Indonesian girls waiting to get employed.

She based her appeal on the alleged failure of the Director of Immigration, Commissioner of Police and the Secretary of Justice to conduct any or any effective investigation into her claim of being a victim of forced and/or compulsory labour, since February 2014, if not before, Judge Coleman said.

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But based on court rules her appeal should have been filed three months after the conviction.

The judge said AM failed to offer any explanation "for the substantial delay between at least mid-2016 and mid-2019."

He added, "Further, even though there is some explanation for the delay from mid-2019, relating to the pursuit of Legal Aid and some interruption from the pandemic restrictions, against the previous chronology I do not think waiting for legal aid is a good enough reason to justify extending the time considerably further."

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In the meantime, the case file was destroyed in 2018 in accordance with standing procedures, and so even if “some aspects of the file could be recreated from other sources, the materials are incomplete, and it is obvious that reliance on recollection after such a long period is problematic,” he added.

He also noted that, contrary to AM’s claim, her allegations against those who supposedly trafficked her were investigated by police, but were eventually dropped for insufficient evidence.

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Travel industry urges scrapping of hotel quarantine as Covid cases drop to 523

 By The SUN

 

CHP's Dr Albert Au and Hospital Authority's Dr Sara Ho at the press briefing

Health authorities reported 523 new Covid-19 cases Saturday, down by about 50 from the day before.

Among the new cases, 252 were confirmed via PCR tests, and 271 were reported by residents who tested themselves using rapid test kits.

They took the city’s total infection figure in the fifth wave of the pandemic to 1,188,800, with 9,023 related deaths.

For the first time since the Omicron surge, the death toll dropped to single digit, with nine new fatalities recorded. The patients were aged between 66 and 102 years old.

Thirteen of the new cases were imported from countries such as Vietnam, South Korea and Singapore.

Dr Albert Au of the Centre for Health Protection said he believed that the number of people returning to Hong Kong would be capped due to the limited number of rooms in designated quarantine hotels.

From May 1, even non-residents will be allowed to enter Hong Kong and will have to fight with returning residents for the available hotel rooms.

Au stressed the CHP’s top priority is to ensure all returnees test negative before arrival, following the relaxation of border control measures.   

Meanwhile the Travel Industry Council has welcomed the government’s easing of travel restrictions, which also include raising the threshold for invoking the flight suspension mechanism.

But TIC leaders said people will still stay away from Hong Kong as long as the seven-day hotel quarantine for new arrivals remains in place.

Speaking on a radio show, the council’s chairwoman Gianna Hsu said , “We don't think we can start our business to overseas or any tourist is coming to Hong Kong... We hope that the government will have the timetable and lift the quarantine policy as soon as possible."

The council suggested officials could consider letting people quarantine at home again and to scrap the flight suspension policy when the infection situation eases further.

HK posts 31k turnout in overseas voting with 16 days to go

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

More than 1,600 people voted today despite an overcast day (photo from Congen Raly Tejada)

Hong Kong looks on track to surpass the 49% turnout recorded in the 2016 overseas voting presidential elections with the daily tally not falling below 1,000 despite the most severe social distancing restrictions  imposed by the government.

According to Consul General Raly Tejada, the turnout in the past 14 days of voting has topped 31,000.

With 16 more days to go, which include three Sundays and two statutory holidays on May 2 and 9 (day after Labor Day and Buddha’s Birthday, respectively), he is confident the final figure would at least eclipse the 42,000 posted in 2016.

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The total registered number of voters then was only slightly less than the 93,265 logged for this year.

Congen Tejada said he was hopeful that alongside a higher turnout, the ongoing vote which ends on May 9 would remain peaceful and orderly with help from the Filipino community.

He also reported that all 10 precincts or SBEIs (special board of election inspectors) each with a working vote counting machine will be in place for tomorrow’s vote, and that this should considerably cut the queuing time for voters.

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“10 VCMs and 10 SBEIs tayo tomorrow,” he said.

Last Sunday, two VCMs broke down, leading to longer lines for voters, with some allocated to the nun-functioning precincts being forced to wait for more than six hours to cast their ballots. Despite this, a record 5,000 plus people managed to vote.

Congen Tejada said the replacement machines arrived on Thursday, and they were able to set them up immediately.

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On Thursday, the turnout was a steady 1,300, then dipped slightly to about 1,000 on Friday. Today it was back to 1,600.

The queue quickly cleared because all precincts were open again

The country’s top diplomat came under fire from militant groups over the police decision to stop queuing on the first Sunday of voting less than four hours after it started. United Filipinos-Migrante Hong Kong blamed this on only five precincts being opened initially for the vote.

Unifil said more than twice as many voters could have cast their ballots that day if the “chaos” did not happen.

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The group also deplored that the Consulate had run out of poll watchers’ IDs because of indiscriminate distribution to various groups.

But during an online hearing at the House of Representatives on the chaos claims earlier this week, Congen Tejada said cutting off the queue on the first Sunday had to be made at the request of the police who said they could no longer control the crowds.

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He also said the initial decision to cut the number of precincts in Hong Kong by half was made by the Commission on Elections. The Consulate, he said, would never have made that decision because it made their job more difficult.

He appealed to all members of the community to just work together to ensure an orderly and successful overseas voting.

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High Court tells police to reinvestigate trafficking claims by abused Filipina DH

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

The court ordered police to reinvestigate the sex trafficking case against the convicted doctor

In an unprecedented move, the High Court has ordered the police to reinvestigate whether a Filipina domestic worker who was sexually abused by her octogenarian employer was also a victim of sex trafficking and forced labour.

In a judgment handed down on Friday, Judge Russell Coleman also said the case of the Filipina named as "CB" in the case showed the need for Hong Kong to have a “bespoke” or specific legislation criminalizing trafficking in persons and forced labour.

“In conclusion, I think the facts of the CB case do establish the ‘causal connection’ between the particular failures in the case and the lack of a bespoke criminal offence,” said Judge Coleman.

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He also said such legislation should not only cover FDHs as urged by CB’s counsel, Abraham Chan, SC, but to all other people who might be victims of forced labour and exploitation under section 4 of the Bill of Rights.

Thus, Judge Coleman told the police to widen its investigation to include at least two other Filipinas who had also worked for CB’s expatriate employer and were shown on video to have engaged in sexual acts with him.

In a statement issued through her solicitors, Patricia Ho and Associates, CB said she was happy that the court had acknowledged the need to have a law that deals specifically with  human trafficking and forced labour.

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"I hope the police will be more aware of the everyday exploitation of helpers. Maybe they will revise not only their laws but how they approach investigation of these matters. In my case, there were too many lapses and they did not see the wider picture," she said.

The court heard that CB, now 44 years old, was subjected to repeated sexual abuse by her employer named in court as Z, a retired British doctor, after she was hired in September 2018.

Z, who is now aged 85 and identified in the lower court as Dr Brian Apthorp, was eventually charged of two counts of indecent assault at Eastern Court. He was convicted of both charges and sentenced to 30 months in jail.

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He is now appealing against both his conviction and sentence at the High Court.

During his trial, the doctor was found to have groped and poked inside CB during a supposed “body check” in August 2018, before signing her up.

About three months after CB was hired, the previous helper Janice, left, and CB was made to take over the task of doing a daily body massage on a fully naked Z and help him masturbate.

Once a week, during days Z called “Whipping Thursday”, CB was made to use various whips and devices on the employer during the massage sessions for his sexual gratification.

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The doctor also made CB watch a video clip showing him having sex with Janice, the Filipina helper she replaced.

Sometime after Z left for his annual vacation in France in April 2019, CB saw other videos and photos showing the employer engaged in sexual acts with various women, including Janice and other previous helper.

CB took the chance to notify the doctor of her intention to quit her job, although the accused claimed that is was he who terminated their contract in July 2019.

After CB filed a complaint to the police in December 2019, a frontline officer determined that the case met three criteria of TIP, and recommended further investigation by a body created for this purpose. Her superior endorsed her recommendation.

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But a senior officer, without interviewing CB and relying on a letter supposedly written by Janice and handed in by Z who suggested the applicant had lied about her ordeal, overruled the junior officer’s recommendation.

No further attempt was made to contact the other alleged victims directly, and the force  eventually concluded CB was not a victim of trafficking nor was she recruited for the purpose of forced labour.

In his judgement, Justice Coleman said the police had failed to take into account a number of facts in the case which could have led them to determine that CB was recruited precisely for the purpose of sex exploitation.

These included (1) video evidence of Z engaging in sexual acts with his previous FDHs, including Janice; (2) CB was recruited specifically to replace Janice; (3) CB was sexually assaulted during her recruitment on the guise that it was part of the recruitment process; (4) CB was routinely sexually assaulted as soon as Janice had left Z’s employment; (5) the sexual assault on CB were similar to the sexual acts between Janice and Z as shown in the videos; (6) it was not necessary  to have a larger or more organized scale of activity to give rise to suspicion of trafficking, although in this case this element was also demonstrated and (7) even granting that some monetary or commercial gain would have excluded CB’s claim from the ambit of TIP, the case clearly showed Z was obtaining sexual services at no cost and for which he would otherwise have had to pay someone else.

Judge Coleman said such public law failures had led to police investigations into TIP and forced labour in this case being prematurely curtailed.

“The consequence is that the investigations should be revived (and) the revived investigation should not be limited to the position of CB alone,” said the judge.

CB’s case was heard simultaneously with another forced labour claim filed by another Filipina domestic worker identified only as “AM,” who however, failed in her bid.

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HK opens door to tourists, relaxes flight suspension rules from May 1

By The SUN

 

HK opens up to the world by allowing tourists to come in

Starting on May 1, non-residents will be allowed to enter Hong Kong, while rules for suspending flights that bring in passengers who test positive for Covid-19 will be eased.

Incoming flights will be suspended for just five days instead of a week, and they must bring in at least five passengers who test positive on arrival, instead of the current three.

In addition, a rapid test will be conducted on arriving passengers on top of the RT-PCR one so they can be taken to their quarantine hotel more quickly if they test negative.

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The new measures were announced by the government through a press release issued late on Friday, after health authorities reported 574 new Covid-19 cases, down by around 50 compared with the previous day.

Among the new cases, 11were imported and included four passengers who flew in from Australia on flight CX100 on Wednesday. As a result, the flight operated by Cathay Pacific has been grounded for a week.

The cases also included a 38-year-old Indonesia domestic helper who arrived on Apr 8 and tested positive on the 12^th day after she had finished her seven-day hotel quarantine and moved in with her employer.

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Dr Albert Au of the Centre for Health Protection said the helper had a low viral load, and both she and her employer’s family showed no symptoms. The CHP said it appeared to be a re-positive case.

Au also said around 20 students taking their university entrance exams had been sent to Penny’s Bay quarantine center, either because they or their family members are infected.

He said another report of a student preparing to attend in-person lessons for the first time tested positive for Covid-19 but the pupil had not been to school recently.

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Another 15 patients with Covid were reported to have passed away, raising the total death toll in the fifth wave of the pandemic to 9,014.

In its statement, the government said non-residents who arrive in Hong Kong will have to meet the same requirements as arriving residents.

They need to present a valid vaccination record, a negative result for a PCR test conducted within 48 hours of boarding their flight, and confirmation of a seven-day stay at a designated quarantine hotel.

Passengers who test negative on rapid test will be taken to their quarantine hotels immediately

The government said the new arrangements aim to minimize risks coming from imported cases while making it easier for Hong Kong-bound travellers to reserve flights and hotels.

It is also a response to the need of residents to return home, and the demands from relevant sectors.

A government steering committee reportedly monitored inbound flights and passenger flow since Apr 1 when a flight ban on nine countries was lifted, and found that the proportion of imported cases had actually decreased, instead of increased.

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While the number of inbound passengers surged to 1,200 from fewer than 300 in the two months before the lifting of the ban, the number of imported cases dropped to just one percent of the total from the previous 3 percent.

The ban on tourists or non-residents has been in place for more than a year, or since Mar 25, 2020.

The government said the ban is now being lifted because the public health risk associated with non-HK residents is the same as that of residents coming from the same place.

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In addition, tourists will be subject to the same health protocols imposed on arriving residents, while the number of hotel rooms will help limit the number of inbound passengers,

For details on the boarding, quarantine and testing arrangements for all inbound passengers, check the government’s thematic website: www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/inbound-travel.html

Meanwhile, the flight suspension rules were eased after the government took note of the view of various sectors that the previous triggers were too harsh that from Apr 1 to 20 alone, 25 flights were barred from flying in for a week.

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This in turn upset the plans of many residents planning to return home, “and severely affected the operations of airlines,” said the statement.

Recent reports suggested many airlines had refused to resume flying to Hong Kong because of the uncertainties posed by the flight suspensions.

The new rules provide that a flight will be suspended for five days if (1) five or more of its passengers or five percent of the total number of passengers test positive on arrival test, or (2) three or more passengers test positive on arrival and one or more is found not to have complied with pre-boarding requirements.

Meanwhile the addition of RAT to the “test-and-hold arrangement” at the airport is meant to shorten the waiting time of inbound passengers at the airport to reduce crowd gathering while maintaining strict rules to prevent the importation of cases.

All arriving travellers will have to take the RAT and PCR tests at the same time, and if the rapid test produces a negative result, the person will be immediately transferred to the quarantine hotel through designated transport.

Should the PCR test yields a positive result afterwards, the traveller will be moved to an isolation facility.