Sarado na ang Penny's Bay

 

Nilagyan ng malaking kandado ang pasukan sa Penny's Bay bilang simbolo ng pagsasara nito

Nagsagawa ng pasinaya ang ilang ahensya ng gobyerno bilang hudyat ng pagsasara ng Penny’s Bay Community Isolation Facility nitong Miyerkules, Mar. 1.

Pinangunahan ito ng Undersecretary for Security na si Michael Cheuk at dinaluhan ng mga opisyal ng Civil Aid Service at iba pang sangay ng pamahalaan na nagbigay ng serbisyo sa Penny’s Bay.

Sa kanyang talumpati, sinabi ni Cheuk na maraming pagsubok ang hinarap ng Hong Kong sa loob ng nagdaang tatlong taon dahil sa pagkalat ng Covid-19. Pero sa pagtutulungan ng mga taga Hong Kong at mainland ay naitatag ang ilang lugar para gamitin bilang quarantine o isolation centre ng mga naimpeksyon.

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Ayon sa kanya, mahigit 270,000 katao ang napagsilbihan sa Penny’s Bay, at ito ay dahil sa mahusay na pamamahala ng CAS, sa tulong ng mga retiradong opisyal ng sandatahang lakas, at iba pang tauhan ng iba-ibang sangay ng gobyerno at mga pribadong grupo.

Binuksan ang Penny’s Bay noong July 16, 2020 para magsilbing tuluyan ng mga close contact ng mga nagpositibo sa coronavirus. Kabilang dito ang mahigit 1,000 residente ng Tung Chung na inilikas matapos makitaan ng bagong klase ng virus ang ilan sa mga nakatira sa parehong lugar.

Noon namang September 2021 ay inireserba ang dalawang bahagi ng Penny’s Bay para gamitin sa pag quarantine sa may 4,000 na bagong dating na mga foreign domestic helper.

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Bukod dito, ginamit din ang Penny’s Bay para matuloy ang pagkuha ng Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination ng ilang mga estudyante na may sakit.

Pati ang mga may sakit na gustong bumoto sa mga mahahalagang eleksyon katulad noong para sa Legislative Council noong 2021, at pagpili ng Chief Executive noong nakaraang taon, ay dito pinatuloy.

Nang lumala ang pagkalat ng coronavirus simula ng Pebrero ng nakaraang taon ay ginamit ang Penny’s Bay para tuluyan ng mga nagpositibo pero hindi delikado ang kalagayan, lalo na ang mga bata o may edad na hindi na kayang tanggapin sa mga ospital.

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Nagtulungan ang iba-ibang grupo katulad ng Health Bureau, Auxiliary Medical Service, Department of Health, Hospital Authority, Hong Kong Police Force, Fire Services Department, Social Welfare Department at iba pa para tulungan ang CAS na masiguro ang tuloy-tuloy na pagseserbisyo ng Penny’s Bay sa mga maysakit.

Sabi pa ni Leung, sa loob ng 31 buwan na bukas ang Penny’s Bay ay pinalaki ito, kaya ang orihinal na 1,500 na kuwarto dito ay naging 10,000, at sumakop sa lupang may sukat na1,000 square meters.

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Sa pagtatapos ng seremonya ay isinara ng mga tauhan ng CAS sa huling pagkakataon ang gate ng Penny’s Bay at nilagyan ito ng malaking kandado ni Cheuk bilang tanda ng pagtatapos ng kanilang serbisyo at ang pagbabalik ng normal na takbo ng buhay sa Hong Kong.

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Filipino in Peng Chau shooting finally appears in court, denied bail

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

An injured Arimas being subdued while the officer who fired 3 shots at him lay nearby (File)

A Filipino male resident who had just come out of hospital after being shot three times by a police officer for allegedly resisting arrest on Jan. 24, received bad news when he appeared in Eastern Court earlier today, Tuesday.

Oliver D. Arimas’ plea to be allowed bail in the sum of $5,000 was denied by Magistrate Minnie Wat after the prosecution vigorously opposed the application, saying the defendant was charged with a serious offence.

It was the first time the 43-year-old Arimas had appeared in court, as he spent more than a month in Eastern Hospital where he was initially listed in critical condition. He was charged in his absence with one count of assault with intent to prevent lawful apprehension.

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While in hospital, his case was included in the court list each week, indicating the authorities’ effort to get him to personally appear to face the charge against him as soon as possible.

According to the prosecutor, the incident started with a noise complaint being made against a group of people inside a subdivided unit at no 6 Wing On Street in Peng Chau. When an officer went to the unit to investigate, Arimas rushed out and attacked him, then pushed him down the stairs.

The officer reportedly retreated but the defendant chased after him. After giving a verbal warning the officer fired three shots from his pistol, and all hit Arimas in the body.

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The prosecution then presented photos of the crime scene to the court.

In response, the defense counsel said the officer did not suffer serious injuries, and that it was Arimas who had to spend more than a month in a custodial ward in hospital.

“Right now he is wearing a colostomy bag that requires regular cleaning so home care is important,” said Arimas’ counsel in pressing his application for bail.

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The lawyer said the defendant was also needed to look after his three young children, aged 9, 7 and 3, as his wife needs to tend to her beauty parlor in Central.

If allowed bail, he said Arimas was willing to report daily to the Central police station, preferably between 12 noon and 3pm, while his children are in school. He was also willing to surrender his passport and continue to reside in the address he furnished to court.

But after hearing the arguments from both sides, Magistrate Wat decided to reject the bail application, saying that based on the nature of the offense it was likely that the case would result in a conviction.

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She granted the prosecution’s plea for the case to be adjourned to Mar 29 for further legal advice. But she told Arimas to appear in court again on Mar 7 for the regular bail hearing. Alternatively, he can make the application directly with the Court of First Instance at any time.

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EOC files sexual harassment case vs FDH employer

 

Unwelcome sexual advances or remarks at the workplace
constitute sexual harrassment, even towards FDHs

The Equal Opportunities Commission said today, Mar 1, that it filed a case for sexual harassment at the District Court on behalf of a foreign domestic helper who said she had been harassed by her former employer on a number of occasions.

According to the EOC, among the acts that the FDH had complained about was her employer coming up close to her to sniff her hair and body after she had taken a shower.

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The claimant also said the respondent employer repeatedly asked her to have sex with him and uttered other vulgar sexual remarks, like asking her to help him have babies.

After being rejected repeatedly, the employer reportedly became furious and used severely abusive language to press his demand for the worker to have sex with him.

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No other details of the case, including the dates of the alleged offences and the amount of claim being sought, if any, were mentioned.

Under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, any unwelcome sexual behavior which results in another person being offended, humiliated or intimidated, constitutes sexual harassment.

This includes unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome requests for sexual favours, and other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.

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“The SDO covers sexual harassment in the employment field,” said the EOC.

According to the EOC, there has been a considerable number of cases where employees were subjected to sexual harassment at the workplace.

From 2020 to 2022 alone, the EOC said it received 504 sexual harassment complaints, representing 51% of all the complaints filed under the SDO.

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By taking this case to court, the EOC said it hopes to raise public awareness that sexual harassment against employees, including FDHs, is unlawful, and will attract serious legal consequences.

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It’s official: Mask-wearing will no longer be required in HK from tomorrow

 

CE Lee and Secretary Lo announce the lifting of the mask mandate at a press conference

Chief Executive John Lee announced earlier today that mandatory masking in Hong Kong will be lifted from tomorrow, Mar. 1. The no-mask order will be enforced whether outdoor or indoor.

Speaking ahead of the Executive Council meeting this morning, CE Lee said the move is a signal to the world that life in Hong Kong is now back to normal.

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“After looking at all the data, the trend and the fact that the winter surge is nearing the end, in order to give people a very clear message that Hong Kong is resuming to normalcy, I think this is the right time to make the decision. That is why today I made the announcement to lift the masking requirement as soon as possible, that is, starting from tomorrow (March 1),” said the CE.

He added that as part of measures to protect public health, persons in charge of premises or groups considered as high risk such as hospitals and care homes, will still be allowed to require people entering the premises to still wear masks.

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But this also means that mask-wearing will no longer required for most other places, including public transportation.

CE Lee assured the public that there is no going back from lifting all pandemic restrictions, and that there will be a total scrapping of the mask mandate for indoor and outdoor place.

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Health Secretary Lo Chung Maw said it would be problematic to enforce a partial lifting of the mask mandate and it would cause inconvenience to most people.

"The complete lifting of the mask mandate means an official end to all of our social distancing measures... We look forward to tomorrow, March 1, being a better day," Lo said.

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The CE said He said the government will keep tabs on the Covid situation to ensure that the rate of infection remains under control.

 

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HK to lift mask mandate tomorrow, reports say

 

The announcement to lift the masking order is expected to be made today

Various media outlets have reported that Hong Kong will follow Macau’s lead and lift its mask mandate as early as tomorrow, Wednesday, and the announcement made today.

Government sources quoted in the reports say the requirement for people to wear masks both indoors and outdoors, would be scrapped at the same time.

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But mask-wearing will continue to be imposed in hospitals and other health-care facilities. People will also be encouraged to wear masks when boarding public transportation, unlike in Macau where it is still mandatory.

Hong Kong’s mask mandate was first imposed in July 2020 and has been renewed every two weeks, with the latest extension due to expire on Mar 8.

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It is the last pandemic restriction that Hong Kong has yet to lift, after doing away with requiring  vaccination proof for most indoor premises and PCR tests for inbound travellers and visitors in hospitals and care homes.

Currently, only those doing strenuous physical activities or visiting country parks are allowed to take off their masks outdoors.

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Under Cap 599I Prevention and Control of Disease (Wearing of Mask) Regulation, those who are caught without a mask outside their homes, and are not eating or drinking, can be fined $5,000 on the spot.

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This allowed the government to rake in $750 million in the 2022-23 financial year alone.

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Visiting arrangements in public hospitals relaxed

 

Visitors will be allowed longer hours.

People visiting relatives or friends in public hospitals will no longer be required to perform nucleic acid tests starting March 1; instead, they will be allowed in if they show a negative result on the rapid antigen test (RAT).

Hospital visitors will also be given more visiting hours.

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These were among the measures adopted by the Hospital Authority as it relaxed measures against the spread of Covid-19, in keeping with the gradual resumption of normalcy in Hong Kong.

In a statement, the HA said, "Visitors are only required to perform a COVID-19 rapid antigen test within 24 hours before the visit, and show a negative result. They are no longer required to provide any nucleic acid test negative result."

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The HA said visiting hours of public hospitals are currently limited to two hours per day.

“From March 1 onwards, public hospitals will adjust their visiting sessions and hours subject to ward operations,” it said. “Visiting hours of some hospital wards would be longer than two hours. Various visiting hours will also be arranged to allow family members to have more flexibility and more time to meet with patients.”

In addition, there is no restriction on the number of visitors.

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“Visitors can take turns to visit but only two visitors are allowed to enter the ward at the same time for each patient,” the HA said.

“The visiting arrangements previously relaxed will continue to be in place subject to the operation of wards, including no prior appointment required for visitors and allowing visitors to feed patients,” it added.

Still, the HA reminded patients and visitors to remain vigilant against the spread of disease.

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"Patients and visitors should continue to comply with prevailing infection control measures, including wearing surgical masks when patients are not drinking or eating, wearing surgical masks at all time for visitors and paying attention to hand hygiene, so as to minimize the risk of spreading virus," it said.

The HA also noted that while the new visiting arrangement will be implemented in all public hospitals, a small number of wards may eed to disallow visiting due to operation constraints.

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“Visitors may ask for details regarding the visiting arrangement from ward staff,” it added.

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