By The SUN
 |
| Sun says workers on amber health code should be allowed to work and get paid (RTHK photo) |
In a statement that should apply even to newly arrived foreign domestic workers, Secretary for Labour
Chris Sun said Sunday that employers should not prevent people with an amber
health code on their LeaveHomeSafe app from working – and if they are unable to
do so, their salary should still be paid.
Speaking on TV, Sun said: "People
with the amber code should be allowed to go to work because the conditions
exist for them to do so. Of course they need to observe certain Covid rules at
work, such as wearing masks at all times, and eating alone. If these rules are
followed, employers should allow them to go to work.”
 |
| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
"But if for some reason
they are not able to go to work, employers should still pay them."
He added that the worker
must not be required to take a sick leave during this period.
Those who are currently put
under an amber or yellow health code are inbound travelers who are required to
undergo medical surveillance for four days after spending three days in a
designated quarantine hotel.
 |
| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
During this time, they are
not allowed to enter certain premises which are deemed high-risk, or where they
are allowed to take off their masks, such as restaurants. But they are allowed
to go to work or attend school, and even take public transport.
Last week, the Labour
Department issued a statement saying newly arrived foreign domestic workers,
like everyone else, should stay for only three days in a quarantine hotel.
 |
| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
If employers choose to keep
their FDWs away from their homes for a longer time, they must move them to a non-designated
quarantine hotel, hostel or flat of their choice.
Implicit in this is that the
employer must pay the FDW during the medical surveillance period – a rule that
the labour chief just made clearer.
Meanwhile, local health
authorities reported 4,979 additional Covid-19 cases Saturday, 215 of them
imported.
 |
| PRESS FOR DETAILS! |
Three related deaths were
also reported, involving two men and one woman aged 80 to 89. The overall death
tally of the fifth wave now stands at 9,352.
They also said that a
five-year-old girl remains in critical condition, a day after she was rushed to
Tuen Mun Hospital.
She tested positive for the
coronavirus on Friday and her condition deteriorated quickly. The girl is
unvaccinated.
Her 11-year-old sister also
tested positive yesterday and is stable condition. She has received full
vaccination.
 |
| Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love |
Government doctors say they
have yet to determine the source of transmission in the girls’ cases, or the
kind of Omicron sub-variant they have been infected with.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the
Centre for Health Protection said they have observed a further rise in the
number of suspected BA.4 or BA.5 cases.
Chuang said the two variants now
make up 23.1 percent of the local cases, while the previously dominant strain,
BA.2.12.1, now accounts for just 7.3 percent.
A total of 1,690 Covid
patients are now receiving treatment in various public hospitals. Among them,
31 are in critical condition, including 10 who are in intensive care, while 22
are seriously ill.
