Filipina who fell to death was a new FDH, Consulate says

 By Daisy CL Mandap 

The worker's body was found on the platform of a second-floor flat at 26 Possession Street

The 27-year-old Filipina who fell to her death from a hotel rooftop in Sheung Wan on Wednesday, Dec 1, was a foreign domestic helper who had been in Hong Kong for just four months.

This was according to Welfare Officer Virsie Tamayao of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, who declined to give any more details, saying the family of the deceased wanted to keep the matter private.

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There has been no intervention from an employer, indicating the worker may have been terminated before she met her tragic death.

Consul Paul Saret, head of the assistance to nationals section, confirmed receiving a report from the police about the death Wednesday afternoon. That was when they confirmed that the deceased was a FDH.

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ATN is working with the family in repatriating the remains, while OWWA has briefed them on benefits that are due them as the deceased was still an active member.

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Apart from burial and funeral assistance of Php120,000 the family could also look forward to receiving benefits from her mandatory assistance, which should be in force for her first two years of employment.

The young helper was said to have checked in as a guest at the 20-storey hotel in Sheung Wan the night before she fell.

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Police told The SUN they received a report at about 1am on Dec 1 (They just clarified the date, saying the Nov 28 they gave earlier was a “typo error”) from residents in the area about a woman having fallen from the hotel rooftop.

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Her body was reportedly found lying next to the platform on the second floor of an apartment building at 26 Possession Street. She was certified dead at the scene and her remains were taken to a mortuary.

No suicide note was found, so police have classified her death as “falling from height” and are conducting further investigation. They took away some of her personal belongings from the hotel to look for clues.

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Anyone who feels depressed may visit OWWA's office on 29/F of United Centre Building, Admiralty, or the ATN section of the Consulate on 14/F of the same tower.

They may also call the hotline of ATN, 91554023 or OWWA, 6345 9324. 

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Those with suicidal tendencies can also call The Samaritans’ 24-hour hotline, 2896 0000, for free counseling.

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FDH numbers fall further amid Covid-19 restrictions, visa refusals

By Vir B. Lumicao

FDHs waiting to process documents outside Immigration Tower in Wanchai (file)

Hong Kong’s foreign domestic helper population fell by 1,358 last month, obviously due to coronavirus-related slowing of worker arrivals and stricter immigration rules requiring helpers who prematurely terminate their contract to exit and apply for visa from home.

A big part of the decline must be due to the difficulty encountered by most inbound FDHs in booking a room at any of the three quarantine facilities designated for their use by the Hong Kong government. 

Both Filipino and Indonesian FDH population numbers had tumbled as of Nov 30 to 197,071 and 145,000, respectively, the latest figures from the Immigration Department show. 

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For the Philippines, the decline was 314; for Indonesia, it was a larger 957 drop.

Even India, the third-largest supplier of domestic workers to Hong Kong, saw its FDH population fall by 531 last month to 3,497, reflecting the pandemic restrictions. However, a total of 476 FDHs were added to the tally from countries designated only as "others" in the Immigration data.

Hong Kong’s total FDH population had fallen to 350,050 at the end of November from 351,408 a month earlier.

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In November, the Hong Kong government tightened further its policy against so-called “job-hopping” FDHs, those who are suspected of prematurely terminating their contracts to switch to employers who offer better deals.

According to Immigration Department figures, a total of 1,332 visa applications from suspected job hoppers were denied from January to September this year alone.

The number is said to be already four times the number of visa rejections made by Immigration for the whole of last year.

The policy has caught many pre-terminated Filipino workers in a bind when their work applications for their new employers were rejected by Immigration.

Chan says FDHs moving to third countries is also behind the continuing decline in their numbers

Thomas Chan, president of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies, said the tightening of rules by the host government is behind the steady drop in the number of Filipino and Indonesian FDHs.

“Yes, the number of both Filipino and Indonesian dropped again for the month of November. I think it is the result of restrictions on new arrivals from these two countries,” Chan said.

He said contributing to the shrinking numbers are the usual reasons why FDHs decide to go home for good, as well as the growing number of those lured by offers of better-paying jobs in a third country.

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“The natural loss happens all the time because some FDHs will go home for marriage, health reasons or family problems,” said Chan.

“Another phenomenon people usually overlook…though it is illegal in the Philippines, third-country recruitment is quite active in Hong Kong, attracting lots of Philippine helpers to Poland, Turkey and Russia, in hopes of landing in Europe.”

The last factor is the refusal by Immigration to allow helpers to move from one employer to another without leaving Hong Kong, he said. The visa rejections, according to him, rose sharply starting in mid-October.

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In a recent letter, the Employment Agencies Administration reminded recruiters to strictly observe the anti-job hopping policy and not induce helpers to switch employers for financial reward.

The agency watchdog said the number of complaints against agencies that allegedly induced FDHs to job-hop has surged from 29 last year to 120 in January-September this year alone.

However, the EAA did not explain the wide gap between the number of visa applications rejected by Immigration and the so-called job-hopping cases.

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CHP says family of 8 from Pakistan may have spread virus on plane

By The SUN 

CHP says a family of 8 spread the mutated virus to 3 other passengers on the plane

The Centre for Health Protection says cross-infection may have occurred aboard Emirates flight EK384 which arrived in Hong Kong on Nov 21 from Dubai, from where 12 confirmed cases have been found, 11 of them apparently linked, including eight members of one family.

“The CHP cannot rule out the possibility that the family cluster of eight cases may have spread the virus to other three cases by personal contact and share use of toilets in the aircraft,” said a statement released earlier tonight, Dec 2.

According to the CHP report, the genome sequencing analysis conducted by the Department of Health’s laboratory showed that some of the cases have identical genetic sequences, “suggesting that the three clusters are likely to be epidemiologically linked.”

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The family of eight, which included several children as young as one year old, reportedly boarded the flight in Pakistan, which then passed through Bangkok, Thailand, and then Dubai, United Arab Emirates, before arriving in Hong Kong on Nov 21.

Three members of the family, two women aged 24 and 33, and a six-year-old boy, (cases 12411, 12412 and 12413) tested positive on their arrival test, so EK384 was barred from flying to Hong Kong for two weeks, from Nov 23 to Dec 6.

The rest of the family members were moved to Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre as close contacts, where five more (12437, 12438, 12439, 12443 and 12447) have been confirmed to have Covid-19 with the L452R mutant strain of the Delta variant.

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Of the three other cases, patient 12420 boarded the flight in Bangkok and tested positive during quarantine at a designated quarantine hotel after arrival.

The two other cases involved a couple from India via Dubai (case 12429 tested positive during quarantine at a designated quarantine hotel; while case 12434 tested positive after being moved to Penny’s Bay).

“According to the genetic sequencing analysis by the (DH laboratory) these 11 patients were found to be carrying the L452R mutant strain,” said the CHP.

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“The whole genome sequencing analysis completed today also confirmed that it belonged to the Delta variant and that cases 12413, 12420, 12429, 12434, 12437 and 12438 have identical genetic sequences, suggesting that these six patients are likely to be epidemiologically linked.”

There were a total of 74 passengers in the flight, said the CHP. Of the 11 infected, two were in the business cabin while the other nine were in economy class.

There was another confirmed case from the same flight (12423), which was, however, unrelated to the cluster.

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“As of now, 57 passengers are still undergoing quarantine at designated quarantine hotels. They tested negative by three tests already conducted as of yesterday (the eleventh day),” said the statement.

Given the high rate of infection among passengers on the flight, the CHP said it increase the number of tests for those still under quarantine, including “parallel testing” on the 19^th day to further verify their negative test results before being released from isolation.

In addition, a local-based aircrew on the flight who should have completed his self-isolation on Nov 27 in line with his quarantine-exempt status has been sent to Penny’s Bay for quarantine until Dec 12.

All the other flight crew are not based in Hong Kong, and have already left. The CHP said it has informed the Airport Authority and Emirates about its findings, and suggested the close monitoring of the health conditions of the concerned aircrew and for the plane to be disinfected thoroughly.

The CHP said it will also ensure that the quarantine hotels where the other passengers are staying comply with the infection control requirements at all times. 

As the 11 cases were all detected during arrival tests at the airport or during quarantine at designated hotels and at Penny’s Bay, there has not been a spread in the community, said the CHP.

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16 airport staff quarantined after Omicron variant found in stranded passenger

By The SUN 

CHP says no trace of Omicron was found in the places visited by the infected man 

Health authorities said tonight, Dec 2, that 16 staff of Hong Kong International Airport will be moved to Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre after being tagged as close contacts of a stranded passenger found to carry the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

The statement from the Centre for Health Protection also said the areas where the 38-year-old male passenger who arrived from Nigeria via Qatar had stayed, have been disinfected.

“All of the 13 post-disinfection environmental samples taken by the CHP from the concerned area have tested negative,” added the statement.

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The infected passenger arrived at Hong Kong International Airport from Doha aboard QR818 on Nov 24 for transit, but was stuck because of visa problems.

His case prompted a top microbiologist to call on the Airport Authority to tighten anti-Covid restrictions on transit passengers.

Speaking on a radio program, Ho Pak-leung from the University of Hong Kong said that at the very least, the patient should have been tested for Covid-19 everyday while he was at the airport.

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“If he’s stranded, at least he should be tested every day. If he’s expected to stay here for a relatively longer period, he should be sent into quarantine. If he's allowed to stay at the airport's restricted area, he’d come into contact with airport staff and other travelers and there’s risk of cross-infection,” he said.

Leung also asked if it was possible to require even transit passengers to be fully vaccinated, and for the authorities to speed up the process of identifying whether infected patients had the variant.

The Airport Authority, meanwhile, has said airlines are required to complete all transits within 24 hours or face punishment. The concerned airline is now being investigated.

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The Authority also said there are no more stranded passengers at the airport now.

All six passengers who tested positive for Covid-19 carried the strain often linked to Delta variant

Also today, the Centre for Health Protection reported six additional confirmed cases of Covid-19, and all of them are imported and carry the L452R mutant strain commonly linked to the Delta variant.

One of the patients, a 38-year-old man who came from Qatar via QR818 and had been to several African countries earlier, was in Hong Kong during the incubation period, so all the places where he lived and worked will be put under compulsory testing notice.

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Also among the confirmed cases is that of a 22-year-old man from Pakistan who was moved to Penny’s Bay earlier after people he had traveled with on flight EK384 from United Arab Emirates on Nov 21 were previously found infected.

Two patients tested positive on arrival at the airport, including a 60-year-old man who came from the United Kingdom via flight CX252 on Nov 30 and a 30-year-old man who flew in from South Africa and the Netherlands via KL819 on Nov 30.

Two others were in quarantine: a 53-year-old man who came from the United States on flight CX881 on Nov 28 and was staying at Pentahotel in Kowloon, and a 40-year-old woman who came from Russia and Finland via flight AY101 on Nov 28, and was at Nina Hotel in Aberdeen.

They took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 12,445 cases and one probable case.

An update from CHP said it is investigating the case of a 28-year-old woman who tested preliminary positive for Covid-19 with the L452R mutant strain after arriving from the United States yesterday, Dec 1. She left Hong Kong for the US on Nov 20.

As she was in Hong Kong during the incubation period, her residential block, On Kin House, On Tin House, Lamtin, has been locked down overnight, and all residents there subjected to compulsory testing.

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HK reports 4th Omicron case in man stuck at HK airport

By The SUN 

The latest Omicron patient was stuck at HK airport for at least 2 weeks because of visa issues

Hong Kong reported today, Dec 1, its fourth imported Omicron case, involving a 38-year-old man from Nigeria who spent days stuck at the airport in the city.

The patient was not included among the three imported cases reported by the Centre for Health Protection today.

CHP said the patient had not received any Covid-19 vaccination and  was asymptomatic.

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Investigations revealed the man had previously travelled from Papua New Guinea to Nigeria on Nov 15, before he traveled to Qatar and Hong Kong.

After his arrival in Hong Kong on Nov 24, he remained in the airside of the restricted area of the airport due to a visa-related issue.

He tested positive in a pre-departure test on Nov 27 in the restricted area, but was found to carry the highly-feared Omicron variant only on Dec. 1. 

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Places he had been to in Terminal 1 of the airport have been put under a compulsory testing notice.

The report came as Nigeria confirmed finding the Omicron variant in samples it collected as early as October, suggesting the cases there had pre-dated those in southern Africa, which were first reported to the World Health Organization on Nov 24.

A room at Ramada North Point, where the 3rd Omicron patient had stayed

Earlier, Hong Kong found Omicron in another traveler from Nigeria who arrived on Nov 24 via

Ethiopia and Thailand. The 37-year-old man tested positive during his quarantine at Ramada Hotel in North Point.

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The two earlier Omicron cases involved a 36-year-old man from South Africa who was found to have passed on the variant to a 62-year-old man from Canada who had stayed in an opposite room at Regal Airport Hotel in Chek Lap Kok.

They arrived in Hong Kong on November 10 and 11, respectively, but were reported to have carried the previously unknown Omicron variant only on Nov 25.

Meanwhile, a Filipina domestic worker, a young girl from Pakistan and an elderly woman from Spain were reported today as having tested positive for Covid-19 in Hong Kong.

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The 31-year-old Filipina who arrived from Manila on Nov 25 via 5J272 tested positive on her fifth day at Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre.

The five-year-old girl who had originally come from Pakistan was also at PBQC where she was tested after being identified as a close contact of a previously identified Covid-19 patient. She came on Nov 21 via EK384 from United Arab Emirates.

The third patient is a 61-year-old woman from Spain who flew via Qatar on QR818 on Nov 29. She tested positive on her arrival test at HK airport.

The two older women both carried the L452R mutant strain while the girl’s viral load was insufficient for testing.

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Filipina dies in fall from rooftop of Sheung Wan hotel

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The Filipina fell from the rooftop of this hotel in Sheung Wan

A 27-year-old Filipina fell to her death from the rooftop of a 20-storey hotel in Sheung Wan where she was a guest, on Sunday, Nov. 28, police said.

A police spokesman confirmed today, Dec 1, that the deceased was a Filipina with a Hong Kong identity card who checked into the hotel the night before. He could not say for sure whether she was a resident or a foreign domestic worker.

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Investigators classified the case as “falling from height” as no suicide note was found. They are still looking into the exact cause of her fall.

The police said that about 1am on Sunday, they received a report from residents that a woman had fallen from the hotel rooftop. Her body was found lying next to the platform on the second floor of an apartment building at 26 Possession St.

Paramedics who arrived at the scene certified that the victim was dead.

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The took away some of her personal belongings from the hotel to look for clues. Her remains were taken to a mortuary.

Welfare officer Virsie Tamayao said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration has not received any request for assistance from relatives or friends of the victim, indicating she may be a resident and not a migrant worker.

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Anyone who feels depressed or burdened by a problem may visit OWWA's office on 29/F United Centre Building, Admiralty, or the assistance to nationals section of the Consulate on 14/F of the same tower.

They may also call any of the ATN numbers, 2823 8505, 2823 8506 and 2823 8516 of the OWWA hotline at 6345 9324.

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“People who need help about their problem can visit or call us at ATN or OWWA. If they need counseling, we can refer them to friends, like PathFinders, who can listen to them and give advice regarding their problem,” said Consul Paulo Saret, ATN head.   

Troubled individuals with suicidal tendencies can also call The Samaritans’ 24-hour hotline, 2896 0000, for free counseling.

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Critically ill Filipina and son seek judicial review of deportation order

By Vir B. Lumicao  

The ailing Filipina and her son want to challenge the deportation order against them

A High Court judge said he will study the grounds cited by a Filipina mother and her Hong Kong-born son who are seeking leave for a judicial review of a government order to deport them.

Applicants, Cristina D. Gano, 53, and Bernard Gano, 18, claim their lives would be at risk in the Philippines, hence, their petition for the court to overturn a decision by the Torture Claims Appeal Board to reject their non-refoulement applications.

Cristina took the floor briefly when she was asked by Judge K.W. Lung, through her lawyer, why she wanted to stay on in Hong Kong.

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Counsel Lewis Law, assigned by the Legal Aid Department to represent the two applicants, cited the following grounds for appeal:

First, the risk to Cristina and her son’s lives once they returned home due to a death threat from her husband after learning she gave birth to a son of out wedlock.

The lawyer said Cristina, who is from Ifugao, could be killed or subject to death, torture or persecution if she is brought to trial on adultery under tribal laws. He said the national law enforcement agency will not be able to provide adequate protection to her.

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Second, her critical medical condition under the government’s Unified Screening Mechanism process. The lawyer said she is suffering from various critical illnesses, including cervical cancer, stroke and brain tremors. 

She had been so sick she was unable to go to Immigration interviews and TCAB hearings. Her cervical cancer, discovered in 2016, had shortened her life expectancy.

Third, internal relocation would be difficult for both the mother and son. Wong said with Cristina’s medical condition, her removal/rejection of medical treatment by Hong Kong amounts to a valid ground under the European Convention on Human Rights (equivalent to Art 3 of the HK Bill of Rights) for present claims.

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Wong said the TCAB should have first made a finding on what was the applicable test, e.g. (a) whether Cristina was so critically ill or close to death; (b) she could not be provided with basic levels of food, shelter or social support in the Philippines; and (c) the abrupt withdrawal of medication/treatment would cause her “actual mental and physical suffering”.

He said the board had made errors of facts when assessing the mother’s credibility, which was material to its rejection of her claim.

The judge told the lawyer to cut down the authorities he cited, adding that a thousand pages of pleadings would take much time to examine. He said he will consider the application and come back with his verdict.

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Cristina came to Hong Kong in 1992 to work as a domestic helper. She lost her job in 2001 and overstayed until she was arrested during a police check in 2010.

She was sentenced to eight months in jail and her son was sent to a Boys Home run by the Social Welfare Department.

After serving her sentence, she and her son lodged a torture claim with the Immigration Department in August 2011 with free legal assistance by Duty Lawyers, but this was rejected.

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The two then appealed Immigration’s decision to the TCAB on Oct 21, 2011, but the appeal was also denied.

In the succeeding years, the mother and son filed a series of applications with Immigration and TCAB, including a non-refoulement claim under the USM process, but were unsuccessful.

They issued the present court application for a judicial review of the TCAB’s decision on Aug 27, 2019.

According to the solicitors representing both petitioners, Bernard would lose a great future in Hong Kong if he is deported. He is said to be a talented basketball player and is one of the Top 4 Young League contenders among students in secondary schools.

The lawyers said this unique talent could enable him to be drafted into the SAR’s national team in the Olympics and other international games.

Bernard is said to attend a local school in North Point and is due to sit for the DSE exam next year.

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