CE says no further easing of anti-pandemic rules until May

By The SUN 

CE Lam says phase 2 of rules relaxation will go ahead in late May

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has ruled out a further relaxation of social distancing rules before mid-May, as Covid-19 cases fell to their lowest level since early February.

Speaking before her weekly meeting with the Executive Council, Mrs Lam said she was keeping to the original schedule for relaxing the restrictions, even as she acknowledged that Hong Kong is on the path to recovery.

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“We will continue to press ahead with the three-stage relaxation that I have announced on Mar 21, unless there is a sudden surge in Covid-19 infection cases, but that looks quite unlikely based on our observations and the experts’ advice,” she said.

A number of her health advisers have called on the CE to relax the measures now, saying about four million of the city’s population have contracted Covid-19 in the Omicron outbreak so they have already acquired natural immunity.

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Others say there is no more point in mandating hotel quarantine for residents returning  from abroad because the number of local cases have far exceeded imported ones.

Mrs Lam said that ahead of reopening the borders to non-residents on May 1, nine more hotels with around 3,000 rooms in total will be opened. But she said the government does not plan to further ease travel restrictions.

Chuang reports that the daily Covid tally has dropped to 347 

Meanwhile, health officials reported that the newly confirmed Covid-19 cases fell to 347 Tuesday, the lowest level since Feb 2, when the Omicron surge was just beginning to take off.

Among the new cases, 205 were confirmed through PCR while the rest were reported from self-administered rapid antigen tests.

The daily tally is 84 less than on Monday, but altogether, they took the city’s total infection figure from the fifth wave of the pandemic to 1.19 million with 9,274 related deaths.

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Seven more patients with Covid-19 were reported to have passed away, the lowest recorded since cases began to surge in mid-February.

Included in today’s tally were 12 imported infections, 10 of which were detected through PCR tests. They include three individuals who tested positive 12 days after arriving from Indonesia, South Africa and Singapore.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the three are suspected re-positive cases as they were all infected with Covid-19 towards the end of March.

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The seven others who took the PCR test would have been new arrivals who tested positive at the airport.

The remaining imported cases involved two returning residents who took rapid tests and were detected during the 7-day hotel quarantine.

Chuang also said 13 positive cases were reported from schools today, involving 11 students and three teachers.

Nine of the students tested positive this morning, and the two others last night.

All students and staff at schools are required to undergo rapid tests and submit the negative results just before showing up for class each day.

So far, 47 positive cases have been reported since a total of 617 schools started reopening in phases after Easter.

Meanwhile, Dr Lau Ka-hin of the Hospital Authority said six of today’s fatalities passed away yesterday while the seventh, a 91-year-old man, died on Apr 24.

All seven were aged 65 and above.

Lau said 1,868 patients are receiving treatment at public hospitals and treatment facilities, including 16 who are in intensive care and whose condition is listed as critical. Three others are in serious condition.

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Dating DH ipinaaresto dahil hindi sinipot ang hearing

 

Hindi sumipot sa Eastern Magistracy sa pagdinig ng kanyang kaso

Inutos ang pag-arresto sa isang Pilipinang dating domestic helper kanina dahil hindi dumating sa Eastern Magistracy sa pagdinig ng magta-tatlong taon na niyang kaso.

Nakalista para dinggin sa korte ang kaso ni Kris Hope Vargas, 31, na “breach of condition of stay – overstay”.

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Pero ayon sa mga dokumento sa korte, may isa pa siyang hinaharap mas mabigat na paratang, ang “dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence”. (Tunghayan ang aming balita tungkol dito noong Pebrero 2021: http://www.sunwebhk.com/2021/02/overstaying-filipina-charged-with.html)

Maliban sa pag-utos na arestuhin si Vargas, sinabi rin ni  Magistrate Leung Ka-kie na huwag siyang payagan muling mag-piyansa.

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Ang kaso niyang overstaying ay nagsimula noong March 10, 2020 matapos ang 14 araw na palugit para siya umuwi matapos siyang materminate ng kanyang amo dahil hindi na siya pinayagan ng Immigration Department na palawigin ang kanyang pagtira sa Hong Kong,

Inakusahan naman siyang nagpagamit ng kanyang ATM card sa money laundering matapos makantanggap ang kanyang account sa Hang Seng Bank ng $691,059.07, na agad namang na-withdraw,  sa pagitan ng May 3, 2019 at Aug. 11, 2020.

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Ang ganitong kasalanan ay nakalista sa ilalim ng Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, na nagtatakda ng parusang pagkakakulong ng hanggang 14 taong pagkabilanggo kung dumaan ang kaso sa paglilitis o 3 taon kung hindi, at multang hanggang $5 million kung dumaan sa paglilitis at $500,000 kung hindi.

Samantala, sa isang hiwalay na kaso ay inutos ni Magistrate Leung ang pagsampa sa District Court ng asunto laban sa family driver na si Roland Ducusin, 39.

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Nakabanga si Ducusin noong July 28, 2021 ng isang matandang Intsik sa Wan Chai habang pauwi sila ng ina niya galing sa palengke, lulan ang sasakyan ng kanilang amo.

Namatay ang biktima noong araw ding iyon. 

Para sa karagdagang detalye, matutunghayan ang nauna naming report dito: https://www.sunwebhk.com/2021/10/court-adjourns-case-vs-filipino-driver.html.

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OV daily tally dips to 700

By Daisy CL Mandap

  

Thousands of Filipinos descend on Bayanihan on Sundays but not on weekdays 

The daily turnout in the ongoing overseas voting in Hong Kong for the 2022 presidential election in the Philippines dropped to below 1,000 for the first time on Monday.

According to Consul General Raly Tejada, the number of voters for the day was in the “low 700s” but enough to surpass the 2019 turnout with 14 days to go.”

For the mid-term election that year, more than 36,000 voters cast their ballots, or 42% of the 87,441 registered voters.

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With two more weeks to go, which include two Sundays and two statutory holidays when foreign domestic workers who make up the bulk of the voters can take the day off and vote, the running tally now is already at least 36,400.

There is enough time to raise the total turnout by the end of the election period on May 9 to way past the record set in the last presidential election in 2016, when 43,396 Filipinos, or 49% of all registered voters, cast their ballots. 

That election resulted in President Rodrigo R Duterte being elected along with Vice President Leni G. Robredo, who ran under an opposing slate.

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Congen Tejada said he hopes for a smoother flow of voters now that all 10 precincts with their corresponding vote counting machines are up and running again.

Meanwhile, Consul Robert Quintin who has been deputized by the Commission on Elections to oversee the overseas voting in Hong Kong, says he is aware of only one election protest being filed so far.

It was made by a female voter who claimed her vote for president was not reflected in the receipt that she got after casting her ballot. However, her votes for all other positions were counted.

Consul Quintin said the voter admitted before the special board of election inspectors (SBEI) in her precinct as well as poll watchers who were present that she made an error in shading. She filed a protest nevertheless.

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After leaving the polling station at Bayanihan Centre, however, the voter went on Facebook to denounce the supposed irregularity. 

Similar protests were filed in previous elections, but not one has been resolved in the voters’ favor.

These include claims that their receipt showed a different candidate being voted instead of the one they chose, another of ballots being pre-shaded, and one other of receiving notice of over-vote did not.

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Overseas, similar complaints have been posted on social media, with the latest being a claim from a voter in New Zealand about her ballot not having the name of presidential candidate Leni Robredo.

The face or identity of the voter was not shown, however, but only of the supposedly faulty ballot.

Comelec has disputed this claim, saying ballots are printed in batches of 1,000 so there should be at least 999 others that had been misprinted if this were true.

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Pinay ligtas sa kulong sa kasong ilegal na pagtatrabaho

Shatin Court, kung saan dininig ang kaso ng Pilipina.

Isang Pilipinang domestic helper ang nakaligtas sa kulong kanina sa Sha Tin Court, samantalang ang kanyang employer ay ipinakulong nang dalawang buwan matapos na mahuli siyang nagtatrabaho sa restaurant nito.

Si Rogelyn L. Panday, 42 taong gulang, ay nauna nang sinampahan ng pitong magkakaparehong kaso ng “breach of condition of stay”, matapos siyang makitang nagtatrabaho sa isang Thai restaurant sa Shau Kei Wan sa pitong iba-ibang araw mula Nov. 15, 2021  hanggang Jan 3, 2022.

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Pero iniurong ng taga-usig ang anim sa mga kaso na unang inihain noong Feb. 28.

Sa natitirang kaso, kung saan nahuli si Panday noong Jan 3, 2022, ay umamin siya sa paratang.

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Pinarusahan siya ng dalawang buwang pagkakakulong, pero ito ay sinuspindi ng 24 na buwan. Ibig sabihin, hindi siya ikukulong maliban na lang kung lumabag siyang muli sa batas sa susunod na dalawang taon.

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Pero hindi pinalampas ni Acting Principal Magistrate David Cheung Chi-wai ang amo ni Panday na si Wong Ka Chi Utumaru, na  kinasuhan kasama ang isang Indonesian, si Jariya Saiyarueang, sa salang pagpapatrabaho sa Pilipino ng ilegal. 

Ang dalawa ay mga amo ni Panday na dapat sana ay sa bahay nila sa Shau Kei Wan lang nakapirmi, pero pinagtrabaho din nila sa kanilang restaurant. 

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Ang krimen ay paglabag sa Section 17I (1 (a) at 17T (5) ng Immigration Ordinance. Ayon sa batas na ito, ang pinakamatas na arusa sa paglabag sa mga probisyon nito ay multang aabot sa $350,000 at pagkakakulong ng tatlong taon.

Sa pagdinig ng kaso ay inurong ng tagausig ang kaso laban kay Jariya, pero itinuloy ang kay Wong.

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19 schools report positive Covid results as caseload steady

By The SUN 

Chuang says no Covid outbreak in schools has been detected

The Centre for Health Protection reported 431 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, two more  than on the previous day.

According to CHP’s Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, among the new cases were 19 involving students and teachers, who are all required to present a negative result for a Covid-19 test before being allowed into schools.

The schools reported a case each, including five confirmed by PCR tests and 14 through rapid antigen tests.

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Among those who took a self-test, eight were confirmed on Monday, four on Sunday and two last Saturday. Five of them were due to return to school today while five were in class last week.

Chuang said it's believed the patients contracted the virus in the community rather than on campus.

She said that none of the schools has reported any outbreak and the infected people had not gone to school after testing positive. In this case, officials will just have to continue observing the situation.

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Of the infections 16 were imported from overseas, including a returning resident who tested positive 12 days after arriving from Nepal.

The patient who had two doses of a Covid vaccine in April last year, was confirmed positive in Nepal on Feb 1.

He arrived in Hong Kong on Apr 12 and after 12 days with no symptoms he tested positive with no symptoms and a Ct value between 19 and 27, indicating a high viral load.

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Authorities will carry out genetic sequencing to determine if the case is imported or whether it is a re-positive one.

Of the 16 imported cases, 11 tested positive on arrival, and five during the seven-day hotel quarantine. The patients flew in from Taiwan, Singapore and Qatar.

The newly confirmed cases took Hong Kong’s total tally from the Omicron outbreak to 1.189 million, with 9,054 related deaths.

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Dr Lau Ka-hin of the Hospital Authority said 11 additional deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, involving five men and six women aged 72 to 95.

Six of them were residents of elderly care homes, and six had no record of vaccination.

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HK on way to record OV turnout with 35,600 votes cast for far

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

More people were allowed to go up to Bayanihan, allowing the queues to move much faster

With 15 days to go still in the overseas voting for the 2022 Philippine presidential election, Hong Kong has already recorded a total of 35,600 ballots cast. That accounts for 38% of the 93,265 Filipinos who are registered to vote here.

According to Consul General Raly Tejada, more than 4,600 people turned up at the Bayanihan Centre to vote Sunday, adding to the more than 31,000 who had cast their ballots since voting began on Apr 10.

The day’s tally was lower than the more than 5,000 recorded last Sunday, but still managed to bring up the numbers at a far higher level than that for the same period in the last presidential election held in 2016.

Even more surprising was the quick pace of voting during the day. As in the past two Sundays, a long queue had formed outside Bayanihan before the polling opened, but it had all but disappeared by around noon.

A long line of voters could be seen shortly after the polls opened at 8am

This was partly due to the restoration of all 10 precincts with the corresponding vote counting machines in each, unlike the previous Sunday when two of the machines had conked out, resulting in voters having to wait for up to six hours to complete the process.

On the first Sunday, only five VCMs were in operation in line with a directive from the Commission on Elections that the Consulate was forced to cut the queuing less than four hours after voting had begun.

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Apart from having all 10 precincts up and running, the Consulate also decided to open Bayanihan’s spacious community hall to voters so far more could go up and enter the polling station, instead of lining up under the searing sun on Victoria Road.

By around 3pm, even the queues for voter verification had already disappeared that many people who were campaigning outside decided to call it a day and headed to a park nearby.

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“I hope we would see the same voting trend in the coming Sundays,” Congen Tejada said.

This was how it looked inside Bayanihan by around 3pm (CG's photo)

Asked if he sees the daily tally going up to as much as the 7,000 posted in previous elections, Congen Tejada said all that he is after now is a record voter turnout overall.

 “Na disperse at na distribute na yung maraming botante ng Sundays sa weekdays. Habulin na lang natin ang total,” he said.

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(A lot of those who would normally vote on Sundays had been dispersed on weekdays. Let’s just go for a record total turnout).

Indeed, this year’s election has seen a steady stream of people going to Bayanihan even on weekdays in response to repeated pleas by the Consulate, which has been under pressure to show the host government  that the strict pandemic restrictions would be observed as far as practicable, even during the voting.

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As a result, the daily tally has not gone down to below 1,000 so far, unlike in past overseas vote where the number often dropped to the low three digits on weekdays.

If the trend continues, this year’s turnout would far surpass the 46,396 recorded in 2016, which amounted to 49% of the 93,978 registered voters.

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