Vaccines opened to all, but BioNTech jabs available only until Sept

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Those aged 16 &17 will have to get their parents' consent to get the vaccine

All residents aged 16 to 29 will be able to get a Covid-19 vaccine from next Friday, Apr 23, Civil Secretary Patrick Nip, who is in charge of the government’s vaccination program, said during a press briefing today, Apr 15.

The move will open the government’s vaccination program to all qualified residents in Hong Kong, which according to Nip, number 6.5 million, or 89% of the city’s total population of about 7.5 million.

Previously, only those aged 30 and above and those working in specified high-risk jobs such as those in catering and aviation industries were allowed to take the jabs. The first priority was given to residents aged 60 and above, and medical frontliners.

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Nip also reminded people that the BioNTech jab may be taken by anyone over the age of 16, but the one from Sinovac is recommended only from those who are at least 18 years old.

Sixteen and 17-year-olds will be asked for a completed parental consent form before being given a jab, with a template for the form available on the booking website.

He said the government decided to extend the vaccination to all age groups in line with public clamor.

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“We have considered the operation of the vaccination program and the supply of vaccines, and have decided to expand the program to cover the age group of 19 to 29 years old,” he said.

Nip also reminded all those who want to get the more effective BioNTech vaccine that they only have until August to secure their first dose, and their second dose by the next month, when the community vaccination centers (CVCs) will be closed down.

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“Otherwise, some of the vaccines may have expired,” said Nip, “and there may not be enough supply.” 

All the BioNTech vaccines have arrived, so must be used by Sept

Nip explained that the vaccine, which requires careful handling and storage, could only be used six months after the date of manufacture. After packaging, tests, shipment and delivery to Hong Kong, the period would have been cut to just four months.

But the Sinovac jab, which does not require the same kind of sensitive handling, will continue to be available at all general outpatient clinics of public hospitals, and the 1,600 private doctors who have enlisted for the inoculation program.

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By next month, Nip also said that three vaccination centers offering Sinovac jabs, in Tseung Kwan O, Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan will switch to offering BioNTech vaccines.

Secretary for Health Dr Sophia Chan said Hong Kong people should be grateful that there is enough supply of vaccines for everyone in the city, unlike in many places where the challenge is to get enough jabs for their people.

Chan said the government has procured 15 million doses of vaccines, half of which came from Sinovac and the other half, from BioNTech. This is enough to last until the end of this year, she said.

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The government has also started procuring doses for next year, keeping in mind the development of third generation vaccines that are said to give protection against the new mutant viruses that seem to be spreading globally.

Despite this, she said the take-up for the vaccine in Hong Kong has been slow, with just about 950,000 doses administered so far- 540,000 from Sinovac and 410,000 from BioNTech. That’s just about 9.7 % of all those qualified to take the vaccine, meaning those aged 16 and above.

 

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

“We still have a long way to go,” said Chan, explaining the challenge faced by Hong Kong in attaining herd immunity from the coronavirus disease. 

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21-day quarantine stays for arrivals from Phl, other ‘very high risk’ places

By The SUN 

Quarantine & testing requirements for Philippine travelers stay in place

Hong Kong unveiled its plan to shorten the quarantine period for fully vaccinated persons arriving from non-very high-risk overseas places today, Apr 15. But a government statement said the exact grouping of places will be made when the scheme is published in the gazette in late April or early May. 

Not included in the scheme are travelers from the Philippines, which has been placed under the A2 category for “very high risk places,” which also currently includes India, Pakistan and Indonesia.

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At a higher level are three countries classified as A1 or “extremely high risk” places, which include as of now the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, the three countries identified as the sources of the highly infectious coronavirus variants, collectively designated as N501Y.

Anybody who had stayed in the A1 countries for at least two hours in the past 21 days will not be allowed to board a flight to Hong Kong.

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However, according to a statement issued by the Hong Kong government today, the A1 countries may be moved to A2 by the first half of May, meaning flights from there would resume, subject to stringent requirements including the 21-day quarantine and a negative Covid-19 test result.

Conversely, any A2 country like the Philippines could be moved to the A1 category for 14 days, meaning a total flight ban, if a cumulative number of at least 5 passengers from the country, regardless of airline taken, are found to have the variant on arrival in Hong Kong, within a 7-day period.

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After 14 days, the downgraded country will revert to A2 status, meaning flights can resume, but still subject to strict boarding and quarantine requirements.

Quarantine period for high to low risk countries is cut if traveler is fully vaccinated

For all other places not classified as very high risk or extremely high risk, there is now a possibility of reducing the 21-day quarantine period if the passenger is fully vaccinated, meaning he or she has received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine at least 14 days before traveling.

According to the government statement, the scheme is “on the basis of the 'vaccine bubble' and in accordance with risk-based principles."

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The statement announced the reduced quarantine period for categories designated as “high” to “medium” and low risk. But apart from the low risk countries under category D, which include Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, no other places have yet been designated under each group.

For Group B places specified as “high risk,” the quarantine period will be shortened to 14 days, with a 7-day self-monitoring period, plus compulsory tests on the 12^th and 19^th day after arrival.

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In addition, the negative result for a Covid-19 test taken 72 hours before the flight, and confirmed hotel booking, should be presented before boarding.

For group C countries designated as “medium risk”, the quarantine is also shortened to 14 days for fully vaccinated passengers. No pre-testing is necessary prior to boarding, but the confirmed hotel booking must be presented. The 12^th and 19^th day tests also apply.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

For group D, or “low risk” countries, the hotel quarantine period for fully vaccinated travelers, which may include non-residents, is further lowered to 7 days, with a further 7 days for self-check, and compulsory tests on the 12^th and 19^th day. If the traveler is not vaccinated, the hotel quarantine is 14 days.

In addition to all these requirements, every traveler who arrives in Hong Kong must still follow the “test-and-hold” procedure, meaning they will have to undergo testing for Covid-19 and remain at the airport until the result is known. Any person who tests positive is taken directly to a hospital for treatment and isolation.

The full requirements for each category of places can be found by clicking this link: 

https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/202104/15/P2021041500038_364896_1_1618455183571.pdf

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Grave believed shared by Josephine Bracken and mom unveiled

By Vir B. Lumicao

Bracken's grave in Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley as it looks now

A solemn ceremony in a wooded section of Hong Kong Cemetery on Wong Nai Chung Road in Happy Valley last Sunday may put to rest a century-old search for the grave of Josephine Bracken, the Irish common-law wife of Dr Jose P. Rizal.

On Apr 11, a handful of officers of the Knights of Rizal and Kababaihang Rizalista members unveiled a newly restored memorial gravesite of Elizabeth Jane McBride Bracken, the mother of Josephine, in Section 41 of the cemetery’s Catholic quarter.

Two years ago, a dark, grimy stone slab engraved with the number 4258 was the only marker that indicated that beneath the 2.5-square-meter barren patch on the gently sloping ground lay the remains of Mrs Bracken, who was buried there on Nov 9, 1876.

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The spot was flanked by graves of fallen British soldiers from the Hong Kong Garrison who perished during Commonwealth Wars, in particular World War 1, as their concrete tombstones indicated.

After Sunday’s unveiling, the freshly restored and enhanced grave of Mrs Bracken has become the centerpiece that brightened the desolate section of the cemetery.

In place of the grave’s dirt surface now is a polished concrete platform with a steel bar enclosure that is supported by 12 of the Masonic emblem of square, compass and circle.

The new tombstone on Elizabeth Bracken's grave

At the platform’s head is a black polished concrete tombstone with the inscriptions:

“Elizabeth Jane nee McBride Bracken/Born 1847 Ireland/Burial Date 11-9-1876 Hong Kong”

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Inscribed on another polished black concrete slab at the foot of the platform is a brief biography:

“Elizabeth Jane nee McBride Bracken was the mother of Marie Josephine Leopoldine Bracken who became the common-law wife of Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal. Josephine became a widow when her husband was executed by the Spanish colonialists on fabricated charges on Dec 30, 1896.

This memorial was sponsored by 10 Knights of Rizal of China Regional Area. Designed and built by a MM/KGOR, 2021.”

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At the bottom of the inscription is the grave number “4258”. 

Rizal and Bracken as they looked when they were together

The restoration work cements a belief long held by many, including project proponent and Grant Knight Pieter Nootenboom, that on this spot rest the remains of Josephine, who Rizal has called “my unhappy wife”.

They believe that Josephine, who died of tuberculosis at age 25 on Mar 14, 1902, was buried in the grave of her mother the next day. At the time, the common practice in the former British colony was to bury all who died from the disease in unmarked communal graves a day after, due to the lingering plague.

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There would not have been time to arrange for a new grave, (so) the relatives would have arranged with the gravedigger to bury Josephine in the same grave as her mother’s…This is, perhaps, the reason why Josephine’s grave cannot be found today, they said.

Nootenboom, a Dutchman married to a Filipina, is an avid Rizalist who for decades had joined the search in Hong Kong cemeteries on the ground and online, for Josephine’s long-lost grave.

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“The grave is surrounded and protected by a retinue of Masonic graves as escorts – both on the downward slope in front of the grave and also on the slope above and behind the grave,” Nootenboom said. 

The burial site is therefore well-located and fitting for Rizal’s wife, as the martyr was a member of Freemasonry, a civic movement that young Filipino students in Spain joined and helped spread rapidly among Filipinos there.

The reference to Josephine on a marble slab by the marked grave

These students, Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Jose Alejandrino, Ariston Bautista, Julio Llorente, Galicano Apacible, Antonio Luna and his brother Juan Luna, later formed the Propaganda Movement that called for reforms in their homeland.

It was Rizal’s being a Freemason that fed the ire of the Spanish friars in the Philippines, who were pilloried by Filipino propagandists due to their alleged excesses and influence over the repressive colonial rulers.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Josephine was endeared to the Knights of Rizal due to her status as Rizal’s common-law wife who stayed with him and bore him a stillborn son during his exile in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte.

The couple sailed to Manila in August 1896 and lived there as Rizal waited for his voyage to Cuba, where he was appointed as a doctor in the Spanish military in a deal with Governor General Ramon Blanco. But that fell through as Blanco was replaced by Camilo Garcia de Polavieja when the revolution broke out.

In November 1896, Rizal was thrown in a jail in Fort Santiago, accused of being one of the leaders of the revolution that was launched by Katipunan founder Andres Bonifacio.

Rizal retracted his anti-friar views and reconciled with the Church on the eve of his execution on Dec 30, 1896. Whether he married Josephine just before he was executed remains one of the most debated questions among Philippine historians.

Three days after the execution, Josephine joined the Filipino revolutionaries in Cavite guided by Rizal’s siblings, Paciano and Trinidad. According to some accounts, she was well received by the revolutionaries after being introduced as Rizal’s widow. She took care of the wounded in the battlefront, and learned marksmanship.

But after spending months in the battlefield, she became the target of ire by Spanish authorities. Sometime in May 1897, Paciano arranged her escape back to Manila where she was intercepted by the Spaniards before embarking for Hong Kong. But she was let go because she was the daughter of an American citizen.

Back in Hong Kong, she was introduced to Vicente Abad, a Cebuano, in early 1898. In December of that year, they married at the Catholic Cathedral of Immaculate Conception on Caine Road. Josephine was just 22 years old.

In May 1899 the couple went to the Philippines and settled in Cebu, where Josephine got pregnant. They traveled back to Hong Kong the next year so Josephine could get better medical care for her delivery. On Apr 17, 1900, Josephine gave birth to a baby girl the couple named Dolores.

The Abad family remained in Hong Kong until Dolores was a year old, then sailed back to the Philippines where Josephine was granted a license to teach English in public schools. But not long after, she contracted a tuberculosis of the larynx, and decided to go back to Hong Kong after she was not given medical assistance by the American-ruled government in the Philippines.

The China Mail write-up said Josephine's funeral was held at Happy Valley

Josephine’s ailment rapidly advanced and took a toll on her body. On Mar 14, 1902, she quietly died in the land of her birth, an event that merited a small write-up in the China Mail, which still referred to her as “the widow of Dr. Rizal, a Filipino martyr.”

Nootenboom said with the grave now marked as a historical memorial with Hong Kong and Filipino flavors, it has the potential to attract both local and Filipino tourists.

“I am requesting the Hong Kong Tourism Association to feature the Rizal markers and special places in (the city) that he wrote about in his diary to promote Rizal walks in Hong Kong,” Nootenboom said.

“Hopefully more Filipino tourists may be interested to visit these places. So the HKTA should promote this,” he said.

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HK’s new flight restrictions could stop arrivals from Manila

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

Cathay's flight from Manila was banned last month for flying in 5 infected passsengers

Hong Kong’s new flight restrictions that take effect today could potentially shut down all arrivals from the Philippines for at least two weeks, given the number of passengers from there that test positive not just for Covid-19, but also for the highly infectious coronavirus variant.

Most ominous for travelers from Manila is the new rule that says that if 5 or more passengers with the N501Y strain are confirmed on arrival in Hong Kong “on any flight(s) originating from a specific country within a 7-day period, all flights from all airlines departing that specific country will be prohibited from landing in Hong Kong for 14 days.”

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This means the two-week suspension will be imposed on all airlines that fly out of Manila, if within seven days, a cumulative number of at least five passengers from there are found to have the N501Y variant on their arrival in Hong Kong, regardless of which flight they took.

In the past week, a total of 16 passengers from Manila had tested positive for Covid-19, and all had the mutated form of the virus. Luckily, only three were found infected on arrival, which would not have triggered the ban. All the rest tested positive for the coronavirus and the variant on their second test while in hotel quarantine.

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Another potential cause would be the tightened rule that provides for the two-week ban to be imposed on any airline that carried two or more infected passengers on any two flights from the same destination, within a seven-day period.

A third regulation that could apply is one that bans any flight route if at least three passengers on board test positive for Covid-19 on arrival in Hong Kong.

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Both rules apply even if the infected passengers do not carry the variant.

Before this, the ban was triggered only if at least three infected passengers on two separate but consecutive flights tested positive at the airport, or at least five from the same flight were found infected on arrival.

The ones likely to be hit hard by the new restrictions are Filipino migrant workers

This rule was imposed on Cathay Flight CX 906 on Mar 15 when five of its passengers from Manila were found infected on landing at HK Airport.

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However it was not applied when Cebu Pacific Flight 5J 272 flew in on two occasions recently with at least five passengers on each flight testing positive on their 12^th day in hotel quarantine.

The only rule that remains unchanged is the one that allows the government to impose the same flight suspension if an airline carries one or more passenger who tests positive on arrival, and at least one other who did not comply with set pre-boarding requirements.

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For high-risk countries like the Philippines, these include a negative test result for a Covid-19 test done within 72 hours before the flight, with a certificate issued by a government-approved hospital or laboratory.

The move comes in the wake of calls for all flights to be suspended from the Philippines and other high risk countries like India, Pakistan and Indonesia, or alternatively, to halt the arrivals of all foreign domestic workers, because of a recent surge in the number of imported cases.

Air India has been banned several times under the earlier flight restrictions

Recently, a number of travelers from these countries have been flying in with the coronavirus. However, the mutated form of the virus is rarely seen among recent arrivals from Indonesia.

Air India has been banned no less than six times for flying in at least five passengers who test positive on arrival, while a Vistara flight remains under suspension for flying in two sets of passengers from India who were found infected on arrival.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

Yesterday, Emirates flight EK 384 which originated from Dubai and Bangkok was also banned from flying for two weeks after five of its passengers who originated from Pakistan tested positive on arrival on Apr 11.

Meanwhile, six Covid-19 cases were reported today, four of them imported and the two others locally acquired, and linked to previous infections.

Of the four imported cases, only one, a 26-year-old woman from Pakistan who tested positive on arrival at the airport, was found to have the N501Y variant.

The three other imported cases did not carry the mutation, including a 56-year old man from Egypt who tested positive at the airport. The two others were found infected while in hotel quarantine - a 20-year old woman from Pakistan and a 2-year-old baby girl from India.

Both local cases, a 70-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman, live in Oi Fai Estate in Tuen Mun, where a cluster of cases was found recently.

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Oft-forgotten OWWA rule allows family of late OFW leader to get death benefits

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Merly. left, with her best friend and townmate Lorie Pecasis

It may have come nearly three months late, but the cash aid of Php135,000 granted by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to the heirs of the late overseas Filipino leader Merly T. Bunda still came as welcome gesture.

“Thanks a lot, mare-release na ng OWWA ang Php100k plus ang burial at pangkabuhayan para kay Merly,” her sister Neneng Bunda, relayed in a text message Monday, Apr 12.

Neneng was referring to the standard OWWA grants for the family of a deceased member, comprising Php100,00 for funeral; P20,000 for burial; and Php15,000 for livelihood benefits.

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All these may not have been released despite Merly’s death from cancer on Jan 18, had it not been for the direct intervention of OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac.

The day after Merly passed on at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Neneng went to the OWWA office in Hong Kong to seek help, and was dismayed on being told that Merly’s membership had lapsed in August last year.

That was just about the time the 54-year-old OFW was told she had stage 4 uterus cancer, and had to go to about five different hospitals to get tested and retested to confirm the diagnosis.

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Amid this turmoil, Merly all but forgot to renew her OWWA membership, even after her employer agreed to extend their employment contract for three months when it expired in October of the same year.

The lapse was unusual, as Merly, an active community leader and contributor of The SUN and Bombo Radyo Iloilo, had religiously renewed her OWWA membership in the 30 years that she had worked in Hong Kong.

Other members of the Bunda family in Dingle, Iloilo double-checked the information with the OWWA office in their province, and were equally crestfallen when told the same thing.

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They were given Merly’s payment history showing she last paid for her membership on August 12, 2018, meaning it would have covered her only until Aug 11, 2020.

The family, though disappointed, would have opted to let the matter slide, as Merly, who was single, had enough family members who could pitch in for the funeral expenses, including nephews and nieces she had helped send through college.

Bombo Radyo, for which Merly had covered several important events in Hong Kong, including the SARS outbreak in 2003, also helped give her a proper send-off when her remains were finally sent home and laid to rest in March this year.

Merly's 3 brothers at her wake in Dingle. Neneng and another sister were not around

But on learning of the unfortunate event, The SUN sent a message to Administrator Cacdac and asked if there was any way the benefit could still be extended to Merly’s family, considering that she had religiously paid her OWWA membership for three decades.

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It did not feel right that longtime members whose grave illnesses prevented them from renewing their membership could be deprived of benefits, the OWWA chief was told.

Despite not responding directly to the query, Cacdac acted immediately. Soon, welfare officer Virsie Tamayao contacted Neneng to ask if their family had already been to OWWA regional office in Iloilo and what they were told.

In no time, OWWA Iloilo also contacted Merly’s relatives there and said they were being considered for a two-year extended coverage for OFWs with critical illness.

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According to staff at the regional office, this means that members who died from a critical illness could have their membership extended for up to two years so their immediate family members could still be granted benefits.

Tamayao said she did the research for the regional office so they could consider Merly’s next-of-kin for coverage.

“Mukha lang hindi aware ang region,” she said. (It just looked like the regional office was not aware of this).

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Cacdac himself would not take credit for reversing his staff's earlier decision not to give benefits to Merly’s family.

Responding to a message of thanks, he merely replied, “Okay po, we’ll see how else we can help the family.”

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong 

With this turn of events, Merly could now rest more peacefully, knowing her three decades of support for OWWA and her own record of helping her fellow OFWs in need have been finally vindicated.

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