ConGen tells Polo staff to get tested after visit by Covid-19 patient

By Vir B. Lumicao

POLO's advisory saying it will be closed from today, and will resume services on Aug 9

Consul General Raly Tejada has asked all personnel at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to undergo coronavirus testing after Polo shut down today on being informed that an employment agency who visited its offices has been confirmed to be Covid-19 positive.

According to inside sources, the infected agency liaison staff visited the Polo office on the 18^th floor of the YF Life Tower on an undetermined date and met with some officers or staff.

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Among those the agency staff likely to have met during the visit was Assistant Labor Attaché Angelica Sunga,  who attends to agency matters at Polo, or staff members manning the service counters.

But to be safe, ConGen Tejada has asked all the staff in Polo and Owwa to get tested.      

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“I’ve asked them to get tested for good measure and to follow CHP [the Hong Kong Health Department’s Centre for Health Protection] who, I believe, is advising Polo now,” ConGen Tejada said.

But, he added, “To be clear, walang Polo or taga-Owwa na maysakit.”

 

The infected agency staff is reported to have visited Polo's service counters on the 18th floor

ConGen Tejada also said he became aware of the problem only last night, after Labor Attache Melchor Dizon advised him that they would be closing down their offices because of the incident.

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An announcement posted on the Polo Facebook page said its offices will be closed from today, Aug 3 until Aug 6 “for disinfection and other emergency maintenance procedures.” Operations will resume this Sunday, Aug. 9.

A check with Department of Health and the Centre for Health Protection did not yield any information about the supposed link to Polo of an infected patient.

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A spokesman said he could not say for sure if contact tracing has been done on the patient, or whether a testing schedule has been made for Polo staff, saying there were too many cases in Hong Kong being investigated by CHP.

Records of supposed “infected buildings” showed only one entry for YF Life Tower, pertaining to a 27-year-old female “resident” of the building who was confirmed to have Covid-19 on Mar 22. She visited the building five days earlier.

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Polo and Owwa officers could not be contacted by phone as of this writing.  

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Pagkaraan ng 23 taon, nag-‘for good’ sa Pinas, kumusta na?

Ni Simeona G. Gregorio

(Ang may-akda ay isang guro na napilitang magtrabaho bilang isang domestic  helper sa Hong Kong ng apat na taon para matulungan ang mga magulang sa kanilang pangangailangan, at mapag-aral ang isang kapatid, na isa na ring guro ngayon. Sa loob ng maiksing pamamalagi sa Hong Kong ay nakapag-ipon ng sapat si Simeona para makapag-umpisang muli sa Pilipinas. Sa ngayon ay may asawa na siya at apat na anak, at nagtuturo sa Morente Elementary School sa kanilang bayan sa Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro. Bagamat nakaranas ng hirap sa pagtatrabaho sa Hong Kong, mas pinipili pa rin ni Simeona na balikan ang mga magagandang alaala at mga natutunan sa kanyang pamamalagi dito. - Ed)

Ang may-akda ay bumalik sa pagiging guro sa Pilipinas matapos mag OFW sa HK ng 4 na taon 

“Patience today, beautiful life tomorrow.” Ang mga katagang ito ang naging gabay ko sa maraming taon kong inilagi sa Hong Kong bilang isang domestic worker. 

Marami akong na-experience tulad ng hindi pagkain sa tamang oras, ang pagkakaroon ng sunud-sunod at walang pahingang trabaho at, higit sa lahat, ang pag-iyak tuwing naaalala ang pamilya. 

Isa ako sa dalawang milyong Overseas Filipino Workers, yung mga taong handang isakripisyo ang lahat para sa mga minamahal sa buhay. Ang tawag sa amin ay mga “Bagong Bayani”. 

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Ano nga ba ang nararamdaman ng isang OFW na uuwi na sa Pilipinas? Ito’y takot, kaba, pag-aalinlangan at iba’t ibang negatibong bagay. Lalo pa’t hindi tiyak ang magiging hanapbuhay sa pagbabalik sa Pilipinas.  

Sa Hong Kong, kapag mabait ang employer, masarap ang buhay. Tuwing katapusan, doble ang sahod kung ikukumpara sa suweldo ng pangkaraniwang empleyado sa Pilipinas. 

Napakasarap sa pakiramdam na malaman mong mabibili mo ang mga pangangailangan ng mga mahal mo sa buhay, tulad ng pagkain at damit, at makakabayad sa tubig, kuryente, matrikula ng mga anak at iba pa.

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Pero paano naman kapag ang naging amo mo ay hindi katulad ng nabanggit? 

Ang pakiramdam mo’y para kang nasa gitna ng nag-uumpugang bato. Hindi ka makakilos, di makaimik at, higit sa lahat, hindi ka makapagpaliwanag ng nararamdaman. 

Apat na taon din akong nakipagsapalaran sa Hong Kong. Marami akong natutuhan sa mga Intsik, tulad ng pagiging masinop sa pera, pagiging mahalaga ng bawat oras, at pagiging maingat sa kalusugan. 

Masaya rin ako sa pakikipag-usap sa kanila gamit ang kanilang wika, ang Cantonese. Sarap na sarap din ako sa mga pagkain nila na natutuhan kong ihanda sa loob ng apat na taon. 

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Ang pagiging close ng pamilya ay isang kaugalian ng mga Intsik na hinahangaan ko bagama’t ito ang dahilan upang sumuko ako agad sa pagiging helper sa Hong Kong. 

Labindalawang miyembro ng pamilya – at kung minsa’y kasama pa ang mga kaibigan – ang aking ipinaghahanda ng hapunan. Ganunpaman, sulit din ang pagod sa ganitong mga pagkakataon kapag Chinese New Year dahil marami akong lai see, o perang bigay nila.  

Noong 1997 ay nagpasiya akong umuwi na sa Pilipinas. Tulad din ng ibang uuwi nang OFW, ako’y kinabahan, nalungkot, nag-isip at nag-alala sa maraming bagay.

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Maikli lang ang panahon kong inilagi ko sa Hongkong kung ikukumpara sa iba na halos 10 taon o mahigit pa. Masaya rin naman akong bumalik sa Pinas bitbit ang Php150,000 na inipon ko. 

May babalikan naman akong trabaho dahil tapos din ako ng kursong sa pagtuturo sa elementarya at bago ako nag-abroad ay nakapasa ako sa Teachers Board. 

Ang sahod ng isang guro noon ay Php6,000 lamang. Ganunpaman ay nag-apply akong guro at nagkaroon naman agad ng item.

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Nakaranas din ako ng mga pagsubok sa aking bagong hanapbuhay, sadyang mahirap sa simula. 

Naranasan kong umiyak sa gabi sapagkat naririnig ko ang pag-iyak ng dalawang alaga ko sa Hong Kong. Hanggang sa tinawagan ako ng amo kong babae at nakikiusap na bumalik ako sapagkat iyak ng iyak ang mga alaga ko. 

Masakit sa akin ang sitwasyong iyon. Matagal bago ko nakalimutan ang magagandang pangyayari sa Hong Kong. Hanggang ngayon ay naiiyak pa rin ako kapag naaalala ko ang mga alaga ko. 

Bagama't hinihikayat ng dating amo na bumalik sa HK ay mas pinili ni Simeona ang sariling pamilya sa Pilipinas

Pangunahin pa rin sa akin ang tunay kong pamilya dito sa Pinas. Masaya akong napaglingkuran ko ang mga magulang ko bago sila kinuha ng Panginoon. 

Napalaki ko nang maayos ang bunso kong kapatid at napagtapos ng kurso sa pagtuturo. 

Matagumpay ko ring napalago ang salaping bunga ng aking paghihirap. Inspirasyon ko sa aking buhay may-asawa ang aking apat na anak at mabait na asawa, at ang magagandang bagay na natutuhan ko sa pagtatrabaho sa Hong Kong.

Isang magandang hamon ang aking pagiging OFW dahil dito nabuo ang tunay kong pagkatao sa mga aspetong pisikal, emosyonal, sosyal at, higit sa lahat, ispiritwal. 

Sa aking mga kababayan sa abroad, may magandang buhay na naghihintay dito sa Pinas. Naniniwala ako na pinatatag tayo ng mga pagsubok na naranasan sa malayo. 

Pag-uwi dito ay hindi na tayo tulad ng dati na mahina, walang alam sa gawain kundi malakas at marunong na sa buhay. Normal lang ang takot at pangamba sa ating pag-uwi, subalit tagumpay ang kahihinatnan ng lahat. 

Kung may magandang opurtunidad pa sa abroad at walang mahal sa buhay na mapapahamak, let’s grab the opportunity! 

Subalit kung may mga mahal sa buhay tayong mapapabayaan at nangangailangan ng ating paglilingkod sa huling sandali ng kanilang buhay, unahin natin sila. Isipin natin na kaya tayo nag-abroad ay para sa kanila. Mabuhay ang mga OFW!

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Social distancing rules set aside amid rain

By The SUN

Today's heavy rain forced many Filipino helpers to seek refuge under a footbridge on Chater Road

Today was like any other Sunday in Central, when Filipino domestic workers found themselves seated close to each other despite the new, more stringent rule that allows only a maximum of two people to gather together in public.

But it was not due to any attempt to flout the law. The rain, and the lack of a place for them to spend their only rest day in the week outside of their employers’ homes, made the helpers squat shoulder-to-shoulder underneath bridges and flyovers that shielded them from the elements.

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But most, if not all of the helpers wore face masks, even the now ubiquitous face shields, in compliance with another new regulation that mandates the wearing of masks in all public places, indoor and outdoor. Rain, or no rain.

No one could be seen sharing meals – this time, not because of the fear of incurring penalties for violating a law, but as anybody who has been listening closely to advice from Hong Kong health experts knows, this is one of the fastest ways to spread the virus.

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Now, if only their employers who keep inviting families and friends over to their houses would bear this in mind, said the helpers, there would be less risk of them getting infected, and in turn, passing on the disease to more people.

 

WorldWide Plaza drew fewer people than usual on a Sunday, but was still crowded

This was uppermost in the minds of the many who shrugged off today’s intermittent rain so they could have a brief respite from the drudgery of working six days a week, now made even more difficult by their employers working mostly from home.

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With a ban on dine-ins in all restaurants after 6pm, many domestic workers are also complaining of having to serve meals non-stop to extended family members, and wait until late into the night so they could clean up after the guests had left.

So, even at the risk of catching the dreaded virus, or being slapped with a fixed penalty of $2,000 for violating social distancing rules, the helpers choose to go out.

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But that’s only if their employers are reasonable or law-abiding enough to let them take a day off. The complaint often heard nowadays is that domestic helpers are no longer being allowed to take a rest day, with their employers using the spread of the virus as a convenient excuse.

Never mind if the domestic helper is made to go out for errands on all other days, or the employer wantonly disregards the safety of everyone in the household by inviting friends and family over to eat, and be merry.

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HK reports 115 new Covid-19 cases, all local

By The SUN

It's busy as usual in Causeway Bay today, despite the rains and the continuing surge in infections

Hong Kong reported 115 confirmed coronavirus cases Sunday, including a doctor whose source of infection is unknown. It was the 12th day in a row of three-digit rises which took the city’s total tally to 3,511.

Three more elderly patients were reported to have died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to to 34.

The latest fatality was a 94-year-old man who died at 12:45 pm today at Queen Mary Hospital in Pokfulam.

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Late yesterday, a 90-year-old woman died in Tuen Mun Hospital, while another woman, aged 92, succumbed to complications from Covid-19 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

All the patients had chronic illnesses, and were admitted to hospital with symptoms, before their condition deteriorated over time.

Health officials said in today’s press briefing that all the new cases were locally acquired.

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Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said 79 of the new cases were related to previous cases, 36 were of unknown source. Of the linked cases, 58 were infected during gatherings of families and friends.

For the second day in a row, Dr Chuang declined to comment on reports that a team of medical experts from the mainland are in Hong Kong to help prepare for a temporary laboratory that will expand the city’s testing capability.

Chuang said she was not in a position to speak about the team’s work in Hong Kong.

Dr Chuang (left) with Dr Ho says she can't speak about a mainland team's work to help HK test more people 

Reports from Beijing said the experts will help test all of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million population amid the recent surge in Covid-19 cases. But local officials say they will still have to study this prospect carefully.

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Among today’s cases is a doctor at Union Hospital in Taiwai, Shatin, who reportedly did not go to work three days before the onset of symptoms. Chuang said she believes the doctor got the virus from the community as none in his family was infected.

Another doctor who was confirmed as a positive case today worked at the general ward of the Caritas Medical Centre in Shamshuipo. An 87-year-old male patient in the ward tested preliminarily positive, while two other patients there were found infected on Jul 25 and 26.

Dr Sara Ho, chief manager at the Hospital Authority, said the infected doctor ate with three other doctors at the hospital’s canteen, so the close contacts were put under quarantine. Tracing of their contacts is under way, Ho said.

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Among other notable cases were seven linked to the outbreak at the multi-level marketing firm Star Global, which has offices on Argyle Street in Kowloon. One of the patients was found to have been infected on a trip to Cheung Chau with friends from the company.

Chuang said the CHP got more clues from the police who helped investigate the outbreak. Their report indicated scores of sales agents and staff underwent training in the company’s office without wearing masks.

The CHP will be reaching out to the company and quarantine all its personnel.

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Also among the new cases were four workers at a construction site in Sheung Shui, but may not have been from two different contractors. There were four other cases earlier. She said the companies had been asked to cease work and arrange tests for their workers.

There were also new cases linked to the Fulum Restaurant in Tuen Mun and another at the Tao Heung restaurant in Mong Kok.

Two more cases were also reported from homes for the elderly, one of them from the virus-plagued Kong Tai Care for Aged Centre in Tuen Mun, where at least two residents have already died from Covid-19.

At Millennium City in Kwun Tong, an office worker on the 11^th floor of the building was confirmed infected a day after a janitor tested positive for Covid-19 on the same floor, said Chuang.

Dr Ho said that for the past 24 hours, 101 patients had recovered and discharged from hospital, bringing the total recovery to 1,959.

There are currently 1,107 patients still confined in 17 public hospitals and at the community treatment facilities at Lei Yue Mun and AsisaWorld-Expo. Of these, 34 are in critical condition, 71 are in serious condition, and 1,032 are in stable condition.

Meanwhile, Ho urged the public to cooperate with hospital staff not just to protect themselves but others as well.

She made the appeal in relation to an incident in Tseung Kwan O Hospital on Saturday where a man who tested positive refused to check in and left against the instructions of hospital staff. Police were informed and a search for him launched. He returned an hour later. 

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Polo plans to move to its own offices in United Centre

By Vir B. Lumicao

Polo would be lucky to move back to United Centre, which is at the heart of HK's business district

Filipino workers will not have to go to a separate building in another district for their labor-related transactions, when the Philippine Overseas Labor Office will have moved back to United Centre in Admiralty in the near future.

Sources say that Polo is planning to move back to United Centre, occupying a whole floor in the office tower that houses the Consulate, hopefully within the year.

They say that Polo has already chosen one particularly floor several levels above the PCG, which owns its premises on the 14^th floor of the building, but a deal has yet to be firmed up with the landlord. 

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The proposed move would likely be welcomed by overseas Filipino workers, who will be able to process their employment documents in one building, just as they did in the past when Polo had its own rent-free space in the Consulate.

Right now, they need to shuttle between the Consulate premises in Admiralty and the Polo office at the YF Life Tower in Wanchai, when transacting business.

This was not the case before December 2015, when Polo occupied the entire right wing of the Consulate premises.

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But with the rapid increase in the number of Filipino domestic workers coming to Hong Kong, this set-up often resulted to an overflow crowd in the lift lobby, especially during peak times, for the issuance of the overseas employment certificate.

Former Labor Attache Bernardino Julve found a way out of this by moving the OEC issuance to the spacious Bayanihan Centre in Kennedy Town.

But in 2015, just months before his recall to Manila, then Polo chief Manuel Roldan decided to end the Bayanihan deal, and recommended to the home office that Polo move to its own offices in the adjacent Admiralty Centre.

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Polo stayed there for just two years, because management reportedly demanded a hefty increase to the rental price, which at that time, was already around $500,000.

Coupled with the strict, even hostile, handling of the Sunday crowd of people going up to Polo by the building’s security guards, Labatt Jalilo dela Torre decided it was time to move again. He settled on YF Life Tower (formerly Mass Mutual Tower) because it reportedly gave the best deal, even if it was a few blocks away from United Centre.

Polo’s two-year lease at YF Life should have expired last year, but it has apparently managed to extend the tenancy for another year.

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The source said the return to United Centre could mean savings for Polo, which is currently sharing the $500,000 monthly rent for its offices on the 16^th and 18^th floors of YF Life with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

Besides, the landlord at YF Life Tower reportedly wants to raise the rent under a new lease contract and is asking for a three-month rental deposit.

 

YF Life Tower where Polo currently has its offices, is several blocks away from United  Centre

“The United Centre location will be better than this one because all our offices will be on just one floor,” the source said.

Needless to say, the move will also be convenient for the more than 200,000 OFWs who will be transacting business at the Consulate and Polo/OWWA offices.

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Unlike YF Life where OFWs are forced to line up outside the building even in harsh weather, United Centre is able to accommodate a big number of people queuing up to its office towers because of its spacious lobby.

But there is just one catch. The current rental for office space in United Centre, which is considered grade A given its proximity to key places like the Central Government Offices, is at least $42 psf, even with the downturn due to the pandemic.

An entire floor in the building measures more than 20,000 square feet, meaning the rent would come up to at least $840,000 a month. If Polo clinches a deal less than this current market rate, then it is indeed, well-advised to make the move.

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HK records 125 new cases, all except 1 local

By The SUN

Health officials say many of the new cases involved family members gathering together for meals

For the first time in more than three weeks, no Filipino was among the 125 new Covid-19 cases reported in Hong Kong today, Aug. 1.

It was also the first time that only one imported case was recorded since the third wave of infections was noted earlier this month, a new arrival from Britain.

The last time no Filipino was included in the daily tally was on Jul 6. The biggest number of newly arrived travelers from Manila found to be infected on arrival at Hong Kong airport was on Jul 19, involving 10 domestic helpers and five seafarers.

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But health officials remain concerned as local infections have continued to surge, hitting more than 100 cases for the 11^th straight day.

Five deaths, again involving elderly patients, were reported over the past 24 hours, raising the fatality toll to 31.

Of the new local cases, 62 involved family members and their friends, prompting an appeal from Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection for residents to stop their usual weekend gatherings.

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“We observed that there a number of household clusters…many of them get the whole family infected,” she said. “We do not have, any of us, do not have immunity, that’s why once introduced into the family, the whole family may get infected.”

Family gatherings, especially at dinnertime, appear to have become more frequent since the government stopped dine-ins at restaurants from 6pm.

With many people on work-from-home arrangements, dinner gatherings among family members and friends have become the trend, often to the detriment of foreign domestic workers who have taken to venting on social media about having to serve as many as 30 people during a meal.

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Chuang said this must stop, as there have been cases of children falling ill along with grandparents because of the weekend dinner gatherings among extended family members belonging to different households.

“I think we may have to stop this practice for one or two weeks to maintain the social distancing because once any one (in the family) gets infected, it is very likely…other members will get infected,” she said.

The CHP says the elderly are most vulnerable, so they should not be included in big family gatherings

Among the new family infections reported was that involving a doctor at the Caritas Medical Centre who tested preliminary positive this morning, hours after a family member was found infected with the virus.

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Dr Sara Ho of the Hospital Authority said the doctor went to work at the general ward of the hospital yesterday, but he wore a surgical mask and observed proper hygiene, like frequent washing of hands.

But the biggest number of related cases reported today were the eight linked to an outbreak at a multi-level marketing office called Global Star on Argyle Street, Kowloon.

Chuang said there are altogether 10 cases linked to this cluster, and involved several young people taking part in training seminars, meeting and eating together.

She said the police have been asked for help in contact tracing, since as many as 100 people had taken part in some of the gatherings in the basement-level office which was into the direct selling of cosmetics and wine.

There were also three new cases linked to the Sheung Shui abattoir, which was first detected last week among workers tasked with transporting pigs to the slaughterhouse.

Ho said there are 1,182 patients confined in 17 public hospitals and in Lei Yue Mun community facility. Of these, 37 are critical, 44 are serious, and the 1,101 others are in stable condition.

She also announced that the new community treatment centre at AsiaWorld-Expo began operating at noon today, and took in between 20-30 younger patients with little or no symptoms.

The AWE centre, which she said was inspired by similar facilities in the mainland, Singapore and Britain, can hold as many as 500 patients.

The most recent deaths included an 86-year-old man with long-term illness who died at Queen Mary Hospital at about 9am. The patient was a resident of Kong Tai Care for the Aged Centre, where dozens of residents and staff had been taken ill.

Another patient, a 79-year-old woman, died at 2:31pm today at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital. She was admitted to the hospital on Jul 29 due to fever and asthma.

Earlier, two patients at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Tuen Mun Hospital also died. The QEH patient was a 79-year-old male patient who was admitted on Jul 27 due to cough. The THM patient was an 89-year-old woman who was admitted on Jul 26 due to fever.

Another patient, an 88-year-old male, also passed away at United Christian Hospital at 5:30am after testing preliminary positive for Covid-19. He will be given a patient number later, making him officially among Hong Kong’s fatalities due to the disease.

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