Overstaying Filipina caught in anti-pandemic raid in Central bar

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

Police raided hundreds of bars over the past three nights, issuing penalty tickets and making arrests

One of hundreds of people caught by the police last Saturday in their city-wide campaign against violators of pandemic restrictions was a Filipina who was found to have overstayed her visa.

Ellyn C. Pinana, 28, was due to appear in Eastern Court this morning charged with one court of participating in a prohibited gathering and another of breaching her condition of stay.

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However, the prosecution said Pinana was in quarantine, likely due to somebody being held in detention along with her testing positive for Covid-19. With the defense counsel’s consent, Magistrate Ada Yim set down the next hearing of the case to Sept 6.

In the first charge, Pinana is said to have taken part in a prohibited gathering at Port LKF Bar on the third floor of Ho Lee Commercial Building on D’Aguilar Street, Central on Aug. 27. The alleged violation is in breach of Cap 599G of the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation.

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At the same time, she was found to have overstayed her visa, but the charge did not specify how long she had been staying in Hong Kong without authority from the Immigration Department. This is contrary to section 41 of the Immigration Ordinance.

A police statement issued last night said that during a three-day anti-pandemic operation they conducted jointly with various government departments, a total of 123 fixed penalty tickets were issued to customers of bars and restaurants found to have violated the anti-gathering restrictions.

Five other people were arrested for using false documents to gain entry to the specified premises.

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Earlier in the same court, another Filipina appeared on a charge of stealing chocolates and other goods from Fusion Supermarket on Village Road in Happy Valley.

G.S. Flores, 34, is accused of stealing the following items on Jul 1 this year from the grocery store: two shopping bags, 21 packs of chocolate, one bottle of shampoo, three bottles of conditioner, two packs of pain relieving patch and two tubes of pain relieving spray.

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She was not asked to enter a plea as the duty lawyer requested for the case to be adjourned to Oct. 11 for further legal advice.

The prosecution did not object to the postponement, so Magistrate Yim allowed the motion and extended Flores’ $500 bail until the next hearing, when she will be asked to enter her plea.

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Covid caseload nears 10k

By The SUN

 

The CHP says the infection tally will likely top $10k in a matter of days

Hong Kong reported a total of 9,708 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the biggest number posted in five months.

The daily tally jumped by more than 1,000 cases in just one day, and health officials say it is just a matter of time before the total caseload breaches the 10,000 mark.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the surge in new infections was due to the more infections Omicron subvariant, BA.4 and BA.5, which now account for 50.5% of all the cases.

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"The figure of the confirmed cases is still increasing…with a faster rate recently, possibly due to the increasing proportion of BA.5 Omicron variant. So (a) number exceeding 10,000 is expected in the coming days," Chuang said at the daily press briefing.

The Hospital Authority reported 10 related deaths, involving eight males and two females aged 62 to 99 years old. They took the death toll in the fifth wave to 9,451.

Four of the fatalities had three shots of a vaccine, five had two jabs, and one was not vaccinated.

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An additional 339 patients were admitted to public hospitals and infection control centres, bringing the total number to 2,453.

Among them, 43 are now in critical condition, after 10 more were admitted yesterday, and 41 are in serious condition, with nine of them being newly admitted. The total number of critical patients who are in intensive care has risen to 13.

The new infections include 213 imported from 55 different countries. They include 89 detected on arrival at Hong Kong Airport, 60 during the three-day hotel quarantine, and 51 between days 4 and 7. The 13 detected after this period are likely re-positive cases.

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There were more than 10 positive cases in each of these countries: India, 25; Thailand, 20; the Philippines, 18; United States and United Kingdom, 16 each; and Singapore, 12.

In response to the continuing surge in confirmed cases, the HA has activated phase 3 of its bed mobilization plan to reserve more beds for patients, and deploy more people to manage patients confirmed with Covid-19.

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But to do this, public hospitals will have to cut more non-emergency services such as elective surgeries and limit day and outpatient services some more.

Starting tomorrow, some general outpatient clinics will either have to suspend or reduce their clinic sessions.

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Affected patients are advised to seek consultation at other GOPCs or at private practitioners. Chronic patients with follow-up appointments at the clinics concerned are advised to refill their drugs at the corresponding medication refill clinics on the appointment day.

Those scheduled to have Covid-19 vaccination at the affected clinics will receive text messages on the latest arrangement.

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For the service adjustment on the distribution of specimen collection packs and collection of specimens for of deep throat saliva test, please refer to www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/early-testing.html.

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At least 300 people fined $5k each in 3-day anti-pandemic blitz

By The SUN

 

Police conduct checks on bar customers who may have violated pandemic rules

Law enforcers have issued at least 300 fixed penalty tickets to people found violating anti-pandemic restrictions in bars and restaurants and other premises they deemed as “hotspots” during a three-day sweep across Hong Kong.

The operation started Friday night and involved more than 1,000 bars and catering premises; and continued until Sunday, during which police and other government staff again took to known haunts of foreign domestic workers, including Statue Square and Tamar Park.

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According to two separate press releases by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, its joint operations with the police on Friday and Saturday resulted in a total of 143 fixed penalty tickets being issued.

Of these, 48 were issued on Friday, and involved 42 tickets being issued to bar patrons and six to those in catering premises. The remaining 95 were issued on Saturday night to Sunday morning, with 84 being issued in bars and 11 in restaurants.

A total of 21 prosecutions were also initiated against operators of the premises found to have violated Cap. 599 or the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance.

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On Friday, two bar operators were arrested and prosecuted, along with 11 managers of catering premises. On Saturday, the arrests were two in bars and six in restaurants. 

In addition, several bars and restaurants were ordered to close for between one to 14 days as part of the penalty for their violation of the law.

Among the 'hotspots' where the police conducted checks were the Chater Road vicinity in Central

Separately, the police said in a statement posted on its website that it conducted a series of inspections over three days, along with staff from FEHD, Home Affairs Department and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

A total of 123 fixed penalty notices were issued to violators in bars and restaurants, while five suspects were arrested on suspicion of “illegal entry” or “use of false documents”, apparently relating to the Vaccine Pass used to gain entry to the premises.

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Separately, their operation at “public hotspots” which included favorite haunts of FDHs reportedly resulted in 196 penalty notices being issued, along with four arrests.

According to the FEHD statement, “given the gradual deterioration of recent epidemic situation, enforcement departments will proactively take stringent enforcement actions on an ongoing basis.”

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It added, “Premises operators and the public are urged not to defy the law, but to work together to reduce the risk of virus transmission in the community.

Among the regulations being imposed is Cap. 599L, which requires adherence to the Red Code and Amber Code restrictions under the Vaccine Pass.

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Those with a Red Code are infected persons and are prohibited from leaving their place of isolation while those with an Amber Code are under medical surveillance and as such, should not enter high-risk premises like restaurants and bars.

Anyone found violating the restrictions under the Vaccine Pass are subject to a maximum fine of $10,000 – but the liability may be discharged by paying a fixed penalty of $5,000.

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Operators of premises where the violation was committed may be liable to prosecution and upon conviction, be fined a maximum of $50,000 and imprisoned for six months.

The $5,000 fixed penalty may also be imposed on customers who breach the requirement on the maximum number of persons per table within catering premises, or those who do not wear a mask when not eating or drinking at a table inside restaurants or bars.

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OFW na na stroke, sinisi ang OWWA dahil hindi nakasakay ng eroplano pauwi

Ni Daisy CL Mandap

 

Si Dela Paz na hirap lumakad, matapos hindi pasakayin sa eroplano pauwi sa Pilipinas

Kumalat sa Facebook nitong nakaraang mga araw ang isang post na nagpapakita sa isang Pilipinang domestic helper na umiiyak sa Hong Kong International Airport dahil hindi pinasakay at wala daw siyang dalang medical clearance.

Ayon kay Ma Lourdes de la Paz na kagagaling lang sa stroke, ay nagpunta siya sa opisina sa Overseas Workers Welfare Administration noong Lunes, Aug 22, na dala-dala ang kanyang mga papeles at nanghingi ng tulong.

Hindi naman daw siya sinabihan na kailangan niya ng clearance para makasakay ng eroplano. Wala din siyang nakuhang tulong dahil ang sabi ay doon na lang siya sa Pilipinas maglakad ng kanyang mga benepisyo dahil taga Maynila naman siya.

Ang ibinigay lang daw sa kanya ay mask at isang paketeng kape  

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Pati ang hiling niyang escort papunta sa HK airport ay hindi napagbigyan, gayong dati nila itong ginagawa bilang tulong sa mga maysakit. Bago nga nag pandemya ay sinasamahan pa sila sa pagsakay sa eroplano ng mga tauhan ng OWWA hanggang makarating sila sa Pilipinas.

Pero pinangakuan naman daw siya na pagdating niya sa Maynila ay may taga OWWA na susundo sa kanya. 

Tiyempo namang may kasama siyang nakatira sa Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge na pauwi noong Biyernes, Aug. 26, kaya nakiusap siyang makisabay na lang dito.

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Pero pagdating niya sa airline counter para mag check-in ay hiningan daw siya ng patunay na maari na siyang lumipad pauwi. 

Nang wala siyang maipakita ay sinubukan daw ng mga tauhan ng airline na hilingin sa kanilang opisina sa Pilipinas na payagan siyang makasakay pero walang sumasagot sa telepono.

Ang kinalabasan, hindi siya nakasakay sa eroplano at nasayang daw ang ticket na binili pa ng isang NGO bilang tulong sa kanya.

Agad namang sumagot ang bagong-talagang OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio sa post ni Lhene Apilan Danzalan tungkol sa kaso, at sinabing magsasagawa sila ng imbestigasyon.

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Sabado ng umaga ay tinawagan ni welfare officer Dina Daquigan si De La Paz, at sinabihan na dapat ang agency nya (Galilee) ang nagsiguro na makakasakay siya ng eroplano nang walang aberya.

Sinagot naman daw ito ni De La Paz ng, “Bakit ang agency (ang dapat gumawa nito), ma’am? E Pilipino ako. Dapat ang OWWA ay tinutulungan kaming mga OFW, lalo na iyung mga maysakit.”

Sinabi din ng OFW na talagang pinalagay niya sa Facebook ang kaawa-awa niyang kalagayan dahil pagod na pagod na siya at alalang-alala naman ang pamilya niya sa kanya. Kung sana ay binigyan lang daw siya ng karampatang tulong ng OWWA nang lumapit siya sa kanila ay nakauwi na siya.

Pagkatapos ng pag-uusap nilang ito ay agad nilagay ni Administrator Ignacio ang screen shot ng usapan nina Daquigan at De La Paz sa kanyang Facebook account at sinabi ang “Ayan na si Ma Lourdes dela Paz. Scheduled for repat.”

Screen shot ng usapan nina Daquigan at Dela Paz na nilagay ni Ignacio sa Facebook

Inilagay din ni Ignacio ang isang report galing sa OWWA Hong Kong na nagsasabi na ipinaalam lang daw sa kanila ng agency na paalis na si Dela Paz sa mismong araw ng kanyang takdang paglipad.

Mayroon naman daw certificate si Dela Paz na “fit to fly” na siya, kaya lang ay hindi nakakuha ang airline ng permiso sa opisina nila sa Pilipinas na pasakayin ito.

Ang agency na rin daw ang mag rebook sa ticket ni Dela Paz, at sila na din ang bahalang humanap ng makakasabay nito sa eroplano.

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Sa paratang na hindi nila nabigyan ng tulong si Dela Paz ay kinumpirma naman ng OWWA HK na sinabihan siyang sa opisina na lang sa Maynila siya dumulog. 

Mas gusto din daw niyang tumira sa Bethune House kaya hindi siya nabigyan ng pansamantalang matutuluyan ng OWWA.

Dahil pinost ni Ignacio sa wall ni Danzalan ang litrato ng chat nina Dela Paz at Daquigan ay hindi napigilan ni Edwina Antonio, executive director ng Bethune House ang magsabi ng, “Hindi nyo nga siya kinausap man lang. Nagpa picture lang habang kausap ni Welof Dina. After kuhanan ng picture sa whatsapp, ginamit na ninyo itong picture para i-post sa Facebook ninyo.”

Agad ding sumagot si Ignacio ng, “Ako? Naku e ako e tutulong na lang, ha. Kung saan saan mo na dinadala ang conversation. Nagtataka ako, natulungan na nga galit ka pa rin. Tapos ngayon ako na ang iniisip mong dapat kausap e yung welfare officer na nagha handle nasa HK, ako nandito sa Pilipinas. Anyway kung galit ka pa rin e ako e hindi galit. Pag pe pray na lang kita na sumaya. Ako concern ko e matulungan si Ma Lourdes.”

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Hindi naman nagpaawat si Danzalan na sumagot din, at sinabing obligasyon ng OWWA na gabayan ang lahat ng mga OFW.

“Parang utang na loob pa po ng OFWs na bigyan sya ng assistance…obligasyon nyo po yan…sinalo na nga po ng NGO ang obligasyon ninyo…”

Bago ito ay nagkaroon din ng pagtatalo online sina Ignacio at Antonio, na kinatigan ni Danzalan. Tinanong kasi ni Antonio na bakit pinapasa ng OWWA ang obligasyon nito sa agency, pati ang pagbili ng ticket ng OFW pag-uwi.

Sagot naman ni Ignacio ay nasa kontrata ng OFW yun. “Bakit mo pababayaan makalibre ang agency sa obligasyon niya? E tinupad naman ng agency.”

Ganting hamon naman ni Antonio, “Saan ho nakalagay sa kontrata nila na obligasyon ng agency ang repatriation ng mga OFWs?”

Mabuti na lang at sinamahan ni Danzalan si Dela Paz sa airport 

Ayon naman kay Danzalan, kung ginawa ng mga taga OWWA HK ang trabaho nila ay hindi sana nagka aberya. Mabuti na lang daw at nasamahan niya itong pumunta sa airport dahil baka kung ano na ang nangyari kung mag-isa lang ito nang sabihan na hindi sya makakasakay.

“God bless you,” ang tugon naman ni Ignacio.

Pero sa kanyang sariling account ay may pahabol si Ignacio: “Kapag di pa natutulungan ang dami nag co comment. Pero kapag natulungan na parang walang kagana gana netizens. Ako nagtataka lang. Ano ba posisyon natin sa ganitong sitwasyon. Excited lang ba tayo sa problema, hindi sa solusyon?”

Samantala, hindi pa rin malinaw kung kailangan makakauwi si Dela Paz, at kung anong klaseng tulong ang makukuha niya mula sa OWWA sa kanyang pagbabalik sa Pilipinas.

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2 boys with Covid-19 in intensive care as cases rise to 8,457

 By The SUN

 

The 2 boys are now in stable condition at Princess Margaret Hospital

Two boys who have tested positive for Covid-19 are receiving intensive care at hospitals, including a 17-month-old toddler who received his first vaccine shot on Friday, just before he was rushed to the accident and emergency unit with high fever and convulsions.

They are among 8,457 new coronavirus cases reported Saturday, including 232 imported cases. The number of infections was nearly the same as that posted for Thursday, the highest tally in four months.

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Dr Lau Ka-hin, a chief manager at the Hospital Authority, ruled out the toddler’s vaccination as the cause of his serious symptoms. Rather, it was due to croup, an ailment often associated with children who contract Covid-19.

The boy is believed to have stopped breathing for awhile before developing convulsions and fever, two common symptoms of croup.

"There is no documentation or history that the Covid vaccine can give rise to croup," Lau said.

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He also pointed out that the kid was found infected just a few hours after receiving the Sinovac jab, so it was likely that he already had the coronavirus before he was vaccinated.

“The cause [of his severe symptoms] is the Covid-19 infection, it's not related to the vaccine,” added Lau.

The other patient, a 10-year-old boy, was found to have shadows on both his lungs after he was admitted to hospital with Covid. He had received two vaccine doses.

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Lau said both boys are now in stable condition at Princess Margaret Hospital, but are still being closely monitored.

A total of 2,387 Covid patients are being treated at public hospitals and infection control centers, after 357 new patients were admitted yesterday.

Among them, 39 are in critical condition, including 12 who are in intensive care; and 33 are in serious condition.

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Four more patients with Covid, aged between 69 and 91, have died, raising the tally in the fifth wave to 9441. Only two of the patients had received the recommended three doses of a vaccine.

Of the 232 imported cases 108 were detected on arrival at the airport, 47 during the 3-day hotel quarantine, 58 during the self-monitoring period from days 4-7, and 19 afterwards. The latter cases were believed to be mostly re-positive ones.

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The infected travelers came from 43 countries, of which seven had more than cases: United Kingdom, 31; the Philippines, 30; United States, 22; India and Canada, 17 each; and Singapore, 11.

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