Tests ordered for visitors of 14 dance clubs as 43 new Covid-19 cases reported

By The SUN 

Half of the 43 new cases are linked to the Starlight Dance Club in Wan Chai (RTHK photo)

The government has ordered people who visited any of the 14 dance clubs linked to an outbreak of Covid-19 cases to undergo tests for the coronavirus.

This was announced by the Centre for Health Protection on Saturday,  Nov 21, as it reported 43 new infections, along with more than 60 preliminary positive cases.

Of the confirmed cases, 21 were linked to Starlight Dance Club in Wan Chai, taking the total number of infections there to 32.

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Among the confirmed patients are eight teachers and pupils who visited 13 other clubs that have already been identified by government investigators, and are located in various districts across Hong Kong and Kowloon.

“For those who have been to these 14 dancing places after the first of November, they should come forward for tests as soon as possible,” said CHP’s Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan at today’s press briefing on the Covid-19 situation.

Chuang said they’re hoping the tests would be completed by Nov. 24. Those who don’t submit themselves to a test will be penalized in line with a new regulation allowing the government to impose mandatory testing for everyone it considers as “high risk.”

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Among the venues named were Dance Culture, Dance Star Academy, DanzStage Dance Studio  and Shining Star Dance Studio, all in Causeway Bay; Heavenly Dance Studio in Sheung Wan, Green Apple International Dance School in Tseung Kwan O, Dance Concepts in San Po Kong and Tsim Sha Tsui; and More Dance Fame in Wan Chai.

Chuang also said the trend was worrying, as there was an indication that there were “super spreaders” in the cluster. It was thus likely that more infections would be uncovered in the next few days.

"The numbers are escalating, so the trend of increase is very alarming. We are very worried that a further increase in cases will happen, and it will be very difficult to control.”

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She called on everyone to cancel all unnecessary social activities, especially during the weekends when many people tend to gather together.

Of the day’s confirmed cases, seven were imported, including four foreign domestic workers. Two flew in from Manila, and the other two, from Jakarta. The three others were returnees from Sweden, Britain, and the United States.

One of the Filipinas who tested positive was a 44-year-old who had symptoms when she arrived on Nov 19. The other was a 35-year-old who arrived on Nov 12 and tested positive on her second test while in quarantine at the Metropark Kowloon Hotel.

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The two Indonesian workers are a 36-year-old who tested positive on arrival from Jakarta, and a 34-year-old who was found infected while under quarantine at Silka Hotels in Yau Ma Tei.

Aside from the cases linked to the Starlight Dance Club, only two others were traced to previous infections.

The remaining 13 were of unknown sources, which Dr Chuang said was worrying, as they were found in various districts, and no high-risk factors were detected.

Dr Chuang asks people to cut back on social events, especially during weekends

“This shows that in many districts across Hong Kong we have many silent transmitters,” she said.

The untraceable cases include a construction worker, several retirees and housewives who live as far apart as Ma On Shan and McDonnell Road in Mid-Levels. The other patients live in Wong Tai Sin, Tai Kok Tsui, Fo Tan, Mong Kok (2), Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City, Tsuen Wan, Prince Edward, Tseung Kwan O and Tin Hau.

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Dr Lau Ka-hin of the Hospital Authority, meanwhile, said work is under way to make sure there are enough hospital beds in case the Covid outbreak worsens.

He said close to 4,000 beds, about half of them installed at a temporary medical facility at the Asia World-Expo, will be available at 72 hours’ notice.

Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally now stands at 5,561, with 108 deaths. A total of 132 confirmed patients are now in several public hospitals, with eight of them in critical condition, two serious, and 122 in stable condition.

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PCG to lose about $4.5 M monthly after contract authentication scrapped

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Congen Tejada (L) with Labatt Mel Dizon says authentication now 'superfluous'

The Philippine Consulate General (PCG) has done away with the authentication of all Filipino domestic workers contract as part of its streamlined approach to services, but at a tremendous cost to government coffers.

The new policy, which took effect today, Nov 20, was announced on the Facebook page of the Philippine Overseas Labour Office yesterday.

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The announcement said all standard employment contracts of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will no longer be authenticated at the Consulate. But they will still have to be submitted to Polo for verification.

No explanation was given for the move which could potentially result in the loss of at least $4.5 million monthly revenue to the Consulate and the Department and Foreign Affairs, given the number of contracts that are processed in Hong Kong daily.

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An insider said that before the coronavirus pandemic threw the country’s overseas deployment in disarray, between 1,000 and 2,000 contracts went through Polo and PCG each day. Using the smallest figure given, the monthly take of PCG would still come up to $4.5 million.

But no matter.

The advisory says FDW contracts will no longer pass thru PCG starting Nov 20

Asked for the reason behind the move, Consul General Raly Tejada said:  “Our accession to the Apostille Convention made it a superfluous process.”

Under the Apostille Convention signed in the Hague in 1986, signatories agreed to do away with authentication (or legalization) of a document signed in the originating country for use in another signatory country.

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The Philippines officially became a party to the Convention on May 14, 2019.

Congen Tejada added: “Where processes are unnecessary then we need to eliminate them. Verification of employment by Polo remains compulsory for the protection of our workers.”

Through verification, the Philippine government, through Polo, is meant to study the contract and ensure it fully protects the rights of Filipinos working abroad.

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Dolores Balladares, chair of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, welcomed the move to speed up the processing of migrant workers’ contracts.

“Welcome ang magandang balita. Malaking kaluwagan sa mga OFWs ang bawas-gastos na ito per contract lalo na ngayong may pandemic. Bawat sentimo, mahalaga,” she said.

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(This is welcome news. The reduction in fees per contract will greatly ease OFWs’ concerns, especially since there is a pandemic. Every cent counts.)

Balladares also recalled that the authentication of contracts had long been resisted by migrant organizations that see it as superfluous, and a mere excuse to exact more money from OFWs.

“Actually natanggal na rin yan noon, ibinalik lang muli,” she said.

(This was actually scrapped before but was just put back)

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Another veteran Filipino community leader, Eman Villanueva of Bayan Hong Kong and Macau, recalled the same incident, when the authentication process was stopped in 2003 after a row between DFA and the Department of Labor and Employment over rent at the Consulate.

Authentication was first halted in 2003 after a row over rental of the PCG offices

But when then ConGen Corazon Belmonte-Jover assumed office later that year, she immediately had the old system revived, much to the dismay of Filcom leaders.

Two years later, then Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas tried to discard authentication again after getting reports from that some PCG officers in Hong Kong were interfering, and even reversing, Polo’s decision in some conciliation cases.

But after a meeting with her Foreign Affairs counterpart, Albert Romulo, the plan was shelved.

At that time, Unifil said only one other destination country apart from Hong Kong, was collecting a fee for authenticating contracts of OFWs.

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Filipina among 13 arrested in anti-illegal work operations

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The Filpina was among those arrested in Immigration's anti illegal work operations (GIS file photo)

  

A Filipina was among 10 suspected illegal workers arrested by the Immigration Department in operations across Hong Kong from Monday to Thursday this week. Three suspected employers were also arrested, the government said in a press release.

The Filipina was arrested doing illegal work when Immigration officers from the Task Force “Twilight” raided a guesthouse between Nov 16 and Nov 19, reliable source said.

The source did not give personal details of the arrested woman.

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The officers raided 37 target locations including a car park, a food processing factory, a garbage collection depot, guesthouses, an industrial building, massage parlors, residential buildings, restaurants, a shopping mall, a vegetable stall and warehouses.

Two of those arrested were men and eight were women, aged 33 to 55. Three of the women were suspected of using and having forged Hong Kong identity cards.

Meanwhile, two men and one woman aged 27 to 39 were suspected of employing them illegally, the government said.

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In an earlier raid on Nov. 5, seven suspected illegal workers and one suspected employer were arrested in 15 locations, including factories, a food processing factory, recycling sites, residential buildings, a restaurant and a warehouse.

They comprised six men and one woman, aged 40 to 48. One man was suspected of using and having a forged Hong Kong identity card. One woman, aged 46, was suspected of employing the suspected illegal workers.

One of those arrested, a Vietnamese man aged 40, was convicted and jailed by a Shatin magistrate on Nov 7. He was nabbed in a raid on a residential building in Tai Hang while working as a cleaner.

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Immigration officers again conducted raids on 28 other locations from Nov 9 to Nov 11 and netted a total of 17 suspected illegal workers and seven people suspected of hiring them.

The raided sites included a fitness center, a food processing factory, massage parlous, premises under renovation, a recycling site, residential buildings, restaurants, a store and warehouses.

Nine men and eight women, aged 23 to 59, were arrested. Three of the men were holders of recognizance forms, which prohibit them from taking any employment. A man and a woman were also suspected of using and having forged Hong Kong IDs.

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Meanwhile, three men and four women, aged 32 to 63, were suspected of employing the workers.

"Any person who contravenes a condition of stay [imposed on him] shall be guilty of an offense. Also, visitors are not allowed to take employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the permission of the Director of Immigration,” a spokesman said.

He said offenders are liable to prosecution and face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years in jail upon conviction.

More men than women have been arrested in the raids

“Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties,” the spokesman said.

He warned that it is an offense to use or possess a forged Hong Kong identity card or a Hong Kong ID card issued to another person. Offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and up to 10 years’ imprisonment, he added.

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The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offense to employ people who are not lawfully employable. He said the maximum penalty for this offense is three years in jail and a fine of $350,000. The employer of an illegal worker will be given an immediate custodial sentence, he said.

Under the existing mechanism, Immigration will screen vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers who are arrested during any operation to ascertain whether they are human trafficking victims.

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Identified trafficking victims will be given various forms of support and assistance, including urgent intervention, medical services, counseling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other support services.

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HK records 26 confirmed, over 40 preliminary positive cases of Covid-19

By Daisy CL Mandap

Food & Health Secretary Sophia Chan confirms a new wave of infections has begun

In what could be an indication that the fourth wave of coronavius infectious has truly begun, Hong Kong health authorities reported 26 new Covid-19 cases and more than 40 preliminary positive ones today, Nov. 20.

Secretary for Food and Health Dr Sophia Chan said in a press briefing that a new wave of infections has started in the city, citing experts and data from the Centre for Health Protection.

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“But of course we are now doing our best, and before this severe situation started, in the past week, we have already tightened many of our measures, including border control measures, quarantine measures, hotel regulation measures, and also some of the social distancing measures,” Dr Chan said.

“We have also ramped up our testing capacity and set up four community testing centres, and also improved the accessibility of people getting tested, not only the distribution of bottles, but also getting tested in our centres.”

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What appears to bother the experts the most is that many of the new cases have unknown sources, indicating there are many silent carriers around who could unknowingly spread the virus to a lot of people.

Of today’s confirmed cases, five were imported, involving a returnee each from Pakistan and Romania, two from India, and a pilot from the United Kingdom.

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Of the 21 locally acquired cases, 12 were linked to previous infections, and 9 had unknown sources.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said in a separate media briefing that most of the new preliminary cases were local cases, and untraceable.

Setting off the alarm further is a cluster of infections that has emerged from the Starlight Dance Club on Lockhart Road, Wanchai.

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Among the new confirmed cases today is a 75-year-old businesswoman who visited the club on Nov 14. She lives at Victoria Heights on Stubbs Road, and works at Lyndhurst Terrace in Central. Among the places she visited during the virus incubation was the Hong Kong Golf Club in Deepwater Bay.

Dr Chuang said that apart from the businesswoman, nine other cases had been to the venue, including at least five dance instructors and one staff member. Among the preliminary cases, at least seven are also linked to the club.

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Many of the instructors at the club also taught dancing in at least two other venues, Heavenly Dance Studio in Sheung Wan, and Dance Culture in Causeway Bay. Chuang said it was possible other dance studios may be added later as the teachers went to several schools.

 

Some teachers at Starlight also held classes at Heavenly Dance Studio (RTHK photo) 

She said the patients had been to the club between Nov 12 and 14, so people who had been there during those dates should have themselves tested.

Also among the new confirmed cases is a 27-year-old male “bar bender” at a construction site in Yuen Long. His 12 close associates will be sent for testing, while more than 100 others who worked at the site will be given specimen bottles.

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He developed symptoms on Nov 15, but still went to join a birthday party in a room at the Olympian Hong Kong Hotel two days later. One of his family members has also tested positive.

Another case is a 73-year-old man who tested positive at the same time as  his 37-year-old man male relative who attended a special needs school, the Leung King Adult Training Centre in Tuen Mun. Another seven students and staff at the school will be tested, while the school will be closed for disinfection.

The other untraceable cases are 61-year-old female security guard at Greenwood Garden in Shatin, a 63-year-old taxi driver who lives in Tseung Kwan O and shared his vechicle with two other driver; a professional man who works in San Po Kong and lives in Lam Tin; and a 42-year-old woman who lives at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Tseung Kwan O, and arrived from Japan earlier this year to visit relatives and friends.

They also include a 59-year-old housewife who lives at Pacific Palisades in Braemar Hill, North Point; another housewife who lives at Lee Man Building in Mong Kokl; and a 57-year-old who lives in Tsuen Wan, and attended an oldies’ party during the incubation period.

Asked about reports that four taxi drivers previously confirmed as having the coronavirus subsequently tested negative, Dr Chuang said it is suspected that the test samples were contaminated.

“It’s hard to say that the tests were false positive. Some cases were positive before, and they were tested negative after admission to hospital. So, the case numbers will not be deleted because the test samples were negative subsequently and there was no antibody detected,” she said.

The total number of cases in Hong Kong now stands at 5,518 with 108 deaths, which mostly occurred during the third wave which began in early July.

Only 115 confirmed patients are still being treated in 19 public hospitals, with 8 in critical condition, 2 in serious condition, and 105 in stable condition.

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Filipino migrant workers demand return of 'illegal' training fees

 By Vir B. Lumicao 

Palma (in white blouse) will bring some claimants to Polo this Sunday

A group of Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong plan to go the Philippine Overseas Labor Office this Sunday, Nov 22, to ask for a refund of the training fee charged them by their employment agencies in the Philippines.

Their action follows Labor Attaché Melchor Dizon’s statement during a meeting with Filipino community leaders last week that agencies should not charge helpers for training because it is not in the rules of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Labatt Dizon said that if the employer wants the worker to be trained, he or she must pay for the cost.

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Prompted by this pronouncement, the OFW group, Social Justice for Migrant Workers, decided to lead a number of newly arrived workers in filing claims for a refund of the money they paid their agencies for training and other fees.

 “Nagbabalak po kaming pupunta sa Polo sa Sunday. Sasamahan ko ang mga bago na nag-training at nagbayad ng malaki. Marami pong nagsabi na sasama sila,” said Marites Palma, the group’s founder.  

Many of the complainants say they paid their Philippine agencies between Php25,000 and Php105,000 for training which did not prove to be of much use to their work in Hong Kong.

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Among them is Cherry Anne Zerrudo, who paid Php37,000 for three weeks of training at Kimmy International Training and Testing Inc. (Kitti) in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City in October 2019.

She was charged Php30,000 for the basic training and an extra Php7,000 for elderly care, but realized later on that her employer, who is 71, was feisty and strong, and did not need looking after.

Zerrudo said there were about 30 of them who were recruited by Novation Resources, their agency in Manila, and sent to training at Kitti, which provided them board and lodging.

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The center was so packed that Zerrudo said that she, along with a few trainees, had to sleep on the kitchen floor. They were also given only a small bowl of rice with a slice of fish or meat for each meal that many of them would rush out to buy food as soon as they finished training for the day.  

“First week, pinag-aralan namin kung paano maglinis ng bahay ng Intsik. Noong second week, kung paano magplantsa, at noong third, kung paano maglaba, at paano magluto,” said Zerrudo.

At the time, Zerrudo had just returned from working for three years in Doha, Qatar, and was still in possession of a valid national certificate for competency or NC2, and should not have been made to undergo training again.

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But according to Zerrudo, her recruiter told her she needed to re-train as President Rodrigo Duterte had the NC2 replaced with another certificate.

Zerrudo paid Php30k plus Php7k to train for a certificate she didn't need

She said another OFW in her batch who just completed a contract in Malaysia was exempted from the general training but was told she needed to learn Chinese cooking all over again, and pay Php7,000.

Other workers who claimed they paid varying large fees to agencies for their training in the Philippines said they trained for skills that proved useless when they arrived in Hong Kong.

They said the fees were excessive for two weeks of supposed training that did not include learning to speak Cantonese or cook Chinese food.

“All they taught us was table setting which I found out was useless in Hong Kong because my employers would use just a bowl and chopsticks,” said one worker.

Some said they washed and ironed clothes of agency owners, training school operators or the trainors’ families. They said these were basic jobs they did at home. One said that aside from washing, she looked after the agency owner’s child as her supposed training was on child care.

Lyn Francisco said her training at TransAsia in Antipolo included surviving on little food because the trainees were reportedly told some Hong Kong employers would starve their workers. The center was in a three-storey building that also housed the family of the owner. 

Francisco says her training at TransAsia included surviving on little food 

“Naalala ko ang training namin, isang latang Hokkaido sardines, 2 pirasong papaya, 20 katao kakain. Grabe, talagang gutom. Breakfast, 1 pirasong tinapay tapos isang kaserolang kape hati-hatiin pa, yung tigkalahating baso lang kayo,” she said earlier, commenting on a report on The SUN about the controversial training.

“The trainees would do all the laundry of the trainor’s family, house cleaning and carwashing,” said Francisco, who arrived here on Dec 19, 2017. She said she was charged Php18,500 for the training but ended up paying $23,000 including her medical checkup.

“Yung ibang ka-batch namin, tig-Php30,000 ang training fee nila. Mga taga-Davao sila at yung iba, sa ibang part ng Mindanao,” she said.

Most agencies do not issue receipts for the workers’ payments, the helpers said. They said if the workers were told, “Kung ayaw nyo sumunod sa aming patakaran, huwag kayong mag-apply sa amin. Bakit, kayo lang ba ang applicant?”

The training fee scandal appears to have unsettled the recruitment industry in the Philippines as well as the agencies’ partners in Hong Kong. 

On Monday, Alfredo Palmiery, president of the Society of Hong Kong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines (Sharp) will be having an online meeting with his member’s partners in the city.

Thomas Chan, president of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies, said the conference with Sharp will precede a meeting of local agencies with Labatt Dizon on Tuesday afternoon.

Sharp wrote a letter to Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Friday last week, seeking clarification on Dizon’s statement that training and other fees are not in the POEA rules and are thus illegal. 

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Health officials report 20 preliminary Covid-19 cases in HK, say it's ‘worrying’

 By Daisy C L Mandap

The Starlight Dance Club in Wanchai linked to 1 confirmed and 5 preliminary cases

Hong Kong health officials have reported about 20 preliminary positive, mostly local cases of Covid-19 today, Nov 19, and said “the trend is worrying.”

Dr Wong Ka-hing, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, said at today’s press briefing that the preliminary cases were found in many districts and across different sectors in the city.

They include five patrons of a dance club, a man with disability and his elderly relative, a construction worker who went on a hotel staycation, two housewives, a taxi driver who shared his cab with two other drivers, a security guard, and a male expatriate.

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If the preliminary positive cases are eventually confirmed, Wong said that would indicate that a silent transmission was on the rise in the community, and that the pandemic was on the rebound.

These cases were apart from 12 confirmed infections today, four of which were locally acquired, two with unknown source.

Among the two local cases with unknown sources today was 75-year-old businesswoman who went to the Starlight Dance Club on Lockhart Road in Wan Chai on Nov 14. Five preliminary cases have also been reported from this venue.

Dr Wong calls for vigilance amid signs of a rebound in the number of cases

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of CHP’s communicable diseases branch, said the government was still getting more information about the place, including how many people were there on the day the patient visited, and whether live music was performed.

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What they do know for now is that the dance studio measured 4,000 square feet, and had tables where two people sat together. At least two instructors there were also said to have taught at another studio called Heavenly Dance in Sheung Wan.

The other local case with unknown source was a 65-year-old female retiree who lives in Tai Kok Tsui with her family. She felt unwell on Nov 14, and tested positive on Nov 17. She had meals with four friends on Nov 10 and one other friend on Nov 12.

The two other locally acquired cases were linked to previous infections. They were a 74-year-old woman who lives in Shatin, and a 5-month-old baby boy who was linked to an imported case, and whose stool sample revealed his infection.

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Among the eight imported cases was a 35-year-old Filipina domestic worker who flew in from Manila on Nov 17 on board Cathay Pacific flight CX 906.

The others were a 47-year-old cargo crew from the United States; a 52-year-old pilot who also arrived from the US via South Korea; a 13-year-old boy from the United Kingdom; a 19-year-old male who also came from the UK but tested positive while in quarantine; and three returnees who flew in from India on two different dates – an 11-year-old boy, 30-year-old woman and 75-year-old man.

The CHP gave the following details of some of the preliminary positive cases:

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-        A 37-year-old man with special learning needs and his 73-year-old relative. Seven students and other staff members who had used the same room as the disabled man at the Fu Hong Society Leung King Adult Training Centre would be quarantined. More than 40 other students and 20 staff members would be tested. The facility will also be closed temporarily;

-        A 63-year-old daytime cab driver who shared his taxi with a night driver and a substitute driver;

-        A 27-year-old man who lives in Ho Man Tin with family members who also tested preliminary positive. He works at a construction site in Yuen Long with around 12 others in the same team, who have all been sent for testing. After developing symptoms, he went to the Olympian Hong Kong Hotel on Nov 17 for a staycation that lasted until early the next day;

-        A 61-year-old female security guard who lives with her family in Shatin;

-        Two housewives – one who lives in Tung Choi Street in Mong Kok and the other in Braemar Hill Garden in North Point, and a foreign national who had been in Hong Kong since January.

Hong Kong recorded 5,491 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Thursday, with 108 related deaths.

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