60 new Covid-19 cases reported, all locally acquired

By The SUN 

CE Lam says it's not yet time to relax gathering restrictions

There was not a single imported coronavirus case among the 60 new infections reported today, Jan. 12. 

The number of new cases has hovered between 20 and 60 in the past few days, suggesting an easing of the fourth wave of infections. Despite this, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in a press briefing this morning that “now is not yet the time” to relax anti-epidemic restrictions.

Speaking before Tuesday’s executive council meetings, the CE said that despite the decline in coronavirus cases, they are still fluctuating, with new cases being found in hospitals, elderly care homes and construction sites.

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She urged people to avoid gatherings, saying the city should have a “relatively quiet” Lunar New Year, and appealed for understanding to residents stranded overseas due to travel restrictions.

The government had announced last week that the strict social distancing rules that require no more than two people to gather in public, and ban dine-in services at restaurants from 6pm – would remain in place until Jan. 20.

But at the same time, officials said it was not likely that the restrictions would be eased before the Lunar New Year, which will last from Feb 12 to 15.

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Meanwhile, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protections said at today’s coronavirus briefing that an outbreak at an old tenement block on Reclamation Street in Jordan, has worsened, with 10 new cases reported.

The total number of cases in the housing block has now grown to 21, affecting 11 flats in three buildings. Two preliminary positive cases from one of the buildings have also been recorded.

As a result, the compulsory testing order previously issued for 26 Reclamation Street has now been expanded to also include numbers 20, 22 and 24. Chuang said all of these are independent buildings, but are linked to each other within the block.

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“The buildings there are old and have subdivided flats … while some pipes and facilities may be shared. These may pose a higher risk of transmission,” Chuang said.

She said among those living in the affected units are ethnic minority families, mostly South Asian.

Reclamation Road in Jordan, where the 3 infected buildings are located

Worst hit is number 26, where three more residents in two flats tested positive, taking the total from the building to 14 patients in eight homes. Number 20 had five infections in two flats, while number 22 had two patients living in one flat.

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Some of the cases were linked to outbreaks at construction sites for the Tseung Kwan O- Lam Tin tunnel, and the Central to Kowloon highway project, and the third runway at the airport.

Also among the new cases are those involving close contracts of the workers at the Central-Kowloon tunnel project, three ambulancemen at the Tsing Yi Ambulance Depot, three linked to Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry, and a therapist at Princess Margaret Hospital.

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Meanwhile, Hospital Authority’s Dr Sarah Ho said that as of 9am today, 569 confirmed patients were being treated in 25 public hospitals and the treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo. Among them, 41 are in critical condition, 35 are serious, and 493 are in stable condition.

One patients passed away in the past 24 hours, raising the Covid-related death toll in public hospitals to 155.

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2 Filipina helpers pass on due to suspected illnesses

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Teresa dela Cruz was found unconscious in her employer's house

Two Filipina domestic workers passed on two days apart last week, with one collapsing in the flat of her employer in Shatin, and the other reportedly succumbing to liver ailment in Queen Mary hospital.

The deaths were the first to be reported this year, and came just as the Consulate released data showing that 91 Filipinos in Hong Kong died from various causes last year, compared with 65 a year earlier.

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On Jan 9, Teresa dela Cruz, a volunteer in the Philippine Overseas Labor Office’s “Healthwise” health check program for Filipino workers, collapsed in her employer’s flat in Hing Keng Estate, Shatin.

The police spokeswoman said Dela Cruz’s male employer called 999 and reported that around 2:15pm, the worker was found unconscious in her bedroom.

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Officers and ambulance staff who responded took her to Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin where she was certified dead.

Police said initial investigation found no suspicious circumstances and that they could not tell the cause pending a postmortem examination.

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The 51-year-old helper had no known ailment, the spokeswoman said. But the employer and a niece of Dela Cruz who visited the Overseas Workers Welfare office on Sunday reportedly suspected it was due to a heart attack.

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Friends of the deceased who live in the neighborhood said they were shocked because they had a chat with her just the day before and she gave them food. They said she was a very kind person.

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On Saturday afternoon, they heard the wailing of an ambulance and saw police officers arriving at the block where Dela Cruz’s employers lived, so they tried to chat with the helper online to get news but got no reply. Then a fellow Filipina on the block told them it was Dela Cruz who the ambulance men and officers came to pick up.

Marlyn Figuracion was due for a liver transplant when she passed away

Two days earlier, Marlyn G. Figuracion, a song leader at the Jesus Is Lord ministry, also passed away. 

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Talk with some of her friends revealed she had a liver problem and was due to undergo a transplant at Queen Mary Hospital with her son Edmar as the donor, when she succumbed to the ailment on Jan 7.

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Consul Paulo Saret, head of the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section, confirmed the death.

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He said that on Sunday, Jan 10, Figuracion’s employer, accompanied by the deceased's son, went to the Consulate to seek help in arranging the repatriation of the worker’s remains.

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No date has yet been set for repatriating the remains of the two.

 

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Filipina jailed 2 weeks for selling fake ‘Ray Ban’

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Screen grab from video showing how to distinguish between a fake and genuine Ray-Ban

A Filipina domestic helper was sentenced in Eastern Court today, Jan 11, to two weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, and fined $500 for selling fake “Ray Ban” sunglasses and for breaching her visa condition by engaging in unrelated work.

Marilyn Lopez, 40, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Bina Chainrai to one count each of possessing fake goods for sale or other purposes, and breaching her condition of stay.

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Lopez wiped off her tears as her duty lawyer requested Chainrai to not record her conviction so she could still work in Hong Kong in the future to support her family, but the magistrate refused.

The prosecution said Lopez was arrested at 10:50am on Jan 12 last year by a Customs officer in civilian clothes who saw her at a sidewalk on Des Voeux Rd Central, and beside were here 11 pieces of the counterfeit sunglasses.

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The Customs man observed until he saw the defendant offer the goods for sale to pedestrians. He identified himself and intercepted the seller and the goods.

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During questioning, Lopez reportedly said she was a domestic worker in Hong Kong for seven years. She said the seized goods were hers and she was selling them.

The duty lawyer assigned to her said Lopez came to Hong Kong in 2007 as a domestic helper.

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While the case was pending, she was allowed bail and continued to work for her employer, who submitted a letter to the court saying the defendant was a worker “with integrity and was hardworking and trustworthy”. 

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3 Filipino tourists with dried shark fins, seahorses in luggage jailed 18 months

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Some of the seahorses found in the tourists' luggage

Three Filipino male tourists were sentenced today, Jan. 11, to 18 months in jail after being convicted of bringing a huge amount of dried shark fins and seahorses into Hong Kong in August 2019.

Hong Kong regulates the trade in endangered species under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap 586).

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Jomar Goron, Aldrin Jay Lacuesta and Michael Roy Marcelino, aged between 22 and 38 years old, were sentenced by District Court Judge Eddie Yip, who presided over their four-day trial starting Dec 1 last year and found them guilty on Dec 15.

Goron, Lacuesta and Marcelino, who were said to be frequent travelers to Hong Kong, had pleaded not guilty to the charges. Their lawyers said the accused did not know what was in their luggage as they were just paid to deliver the goods here.

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They were tried more than a year after their arrest on Aug 23, 2019 by Customs and Excise officers at the Hong Kong International Airport upon their arrival from Manila with 180 kilos of dried shark fins and 500 grams of dried seahorses.

The prosecution said during Customs clearance, the batch of suspected scheduled dried shark fins and dried seahorses was found packed in 25 boxes that the three had checked in.

Shark's fin is a precious commodity in Hong Kong 

The prosecution of the case was handled by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.

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Goron and Lacuesta were charged with “importing specimens of Appendix II species otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the ordinance”, referring to the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, for the shark fins.

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Marcelino was charged with “importing specimens of Appendix II species otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of section 11 of Cap.586” for the dried seahorses. 

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3 quarantined new arrivals among 41 new Covid-19 cases

By The SUN 

All 3 infected patients had taken Cathay Pacific flights to HK

 

Three people who all arrived in Hong Kong on Dec 29 - two from the United States and one from the Philippines –were among 41 new Covid-19 cases reported today, Jan 11.

The 39-year-old Filipina domestic worker arrived via Cathay Pacific Flight CX 918 from Manila, and was found infected on her second test while in quarantine at the Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon.

The two others were returning residents who both flew in aboard CX 881 from Los Angeles. One is a 28-year-old woman, and the other is a 30-year-old man. They were both quarantined at the Dorsett Hotel in Wan Chai when found infected.

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According to Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection, more than 40 preliminary positive cases were also recorded.

Of the 38 local cases, 11 had no known sources.

The untraceable cases included an ambulanceman connected with the Tsing Yi Ambulance Depot, the second worker there to be confirmed with the virus. Another ambulanceman tested preliminary positive. 

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Dr Chuang said it was not clear if the first ambulanceman who got sick had caught the virus from transporting Covid-19 patients.

“Of course we cannot exclude that..he might have contracted some confirmed case during work, but according to our understanding, they have all worn PPE,” she said.

Chuang added the two ambulancemen could have acquired the virus from each other while at work.

 

Two more workers at Princess Margaret Hospital tested preliminary positive

At Princess Margaret Hospital, two more workers at the occupational therapy section tested preliminary positive for coronavirus, after one case was detected there last week. The workers had used the same sewing machine when making pressure garments for patients.

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The linked cases also included four from the Kowloon Ferry cluster who were reported as preliminary cases yesterday. Four of them are staff, and one is a close contact.

Three more were listed today as preliminary cases, involving two more staff and one close contact. Including the boat captain who was reported as a confirmed case, there are now a total of seven cases linked to the cluster.

Another growing cluster is that linked to a construction site at the Central-Kowloon tunnel. One worker and one close contact tested positive today, raising the total number of cases from this group to nine so far.

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One more close contact of a worker at Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin tunnel construction site was also confirmed to have the virus today, adding to the list of about a dozen or so cases linked to this cluster.

In addition, residents in three housing blocks have been ordered to take Covid-19 tests after two unrelated cases had been detected in different units on different floors in each building.

Dr Linda Yu, a chief manager at the Hospital Authority reported that as of 9am today, 586 confirmed patients were being treated in 23 public hospitals and the treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo. Thirty-nine of the patients are in critical condition, 45 are seriously ill, and the remaining 502 are in stable condition.

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