Quarantine for Covid positive patients scrapped from Jan 30

By The SUN

 

The gloomy days inside an isolation facility like Penny's Bay will soon be over

Hong Kong will lift its quarantine mandate for all people who test positive for Covid-19 starting on Jan. 30, the first Monday after Lunar New Year.

This means that anyone who comes down with the coronavirus will no longer be required to isolate at home of at a community isolation facility.

The move was first announced this morning by Chief Executive John Lee when he appeared before the Legislative Council, and reiterated by his health officials during a press conference in the afternoon.

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CE Lee said Hong Kong has already achieved a strong immunity to the coronavirus after three years of the pandemic, and the risks posed by the disease have been significantly reduced due to improvements in the health care system.

He noted there had not been any “abnormalities” in Hong Kong 10 days its reopened its borders to the mainland. The city’s daily Covid tally has also dropped drastically, from around 30,000 cases in mid-December to around 3,000 now.

Lee said authorities must now move on from mandating Covid rules to treating it as any other upper respiratory tract infection.

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Given this approach, all infected residents who do not have symptoms can go to work and not wait until they test negative, said Centre for Health Protection controller Edwin Tsui at the press conference.

But to protect children and other young people, students are still advised (but no longer required) to test negative before returning to school, Tsui said.

He also said that in line with the new directive, all quarantine orders will expire by Jan 30 and those who are still in isolation facilities will be released in an orderly manner.

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The two online platforms for declaring test results for rapid antigen and PCR tests , as well as the telephone declaration system, will stop operating.

However, a few isolation facilities will be kept running for residents who might need them, Tsui added.

Those who want admitted to these facilities can stay no longer than seven days and will have to contact the Fire Services Department and test positive on a RAT before entry.

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“We will monitor the development of Covid-19, a respiratory endemic disease, the way we do for flu,” said Tsui. 

Meanwhile, Labour and Welfare Secretary Chris Sun said infected workers who want to apply for four days or more of paid sick leave starting Jan 30 must first obtain a doctor’s certificate.

The arrangements for Covid-positive workers will not be any different from those diagnosed with other disease, Sun said.

Hospital Authority's chief executive Tony Ko Pay-sing said Covid patients admitted to hospital will be charged medical fees from the cut-off date.

Non-eligible patients (or those without valid HK IDs) will have to pay the full price for their stay, and for the Covid drugs. 

Ko also said the remote doctor consultation service will also be halted to allow the HA to allocate more resources for its other services, including non-emergency surgeries.

The mask mandate is not on the cards yet, however.

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the wearing of masks played an important role in preventing the spread of Covid.

Lo also said Covid should not be treated lightly is different from flu just because it has now been categorized as “endemic.”

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HK set to lift mask mandate, isolation order for positive cases

 By The SUN

CE Lee says he wants all restrictions lifted by the first quarter of 2023 (File)

Hong Kong is poised to remove the last pandemic restrictions, including mask wearing and compulsory isolation for those who test positive for Covid-19, before April this year at the latest.

This was announced by Chief Executive John Lee himself, during an interview with Hong Kong Commercial Daily yesterday.

“My hope in 2023 is to remove all Covid restrictions,” CE Lee was quoted as saying. He added he wanted to see “all problems resolved in the first quarter” of the year.

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Unconfirmed reports today said the government is considering lifting the remaining restrictions after Chinese New Year, which runs from Jan 22 to Jan 25 this year.

Expected to go first is the isolation order for confirmed patients, which under current rules, requires them to isolate for at least five days, if they test negative on a rapid antigen test on days 4 and 5 of their confinement.

Failure to abide by this rule could result in them being prosecuted, and face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to six months’ imprisonment.

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Once the isolation order is lifted, all quarantine and isolation facilities, as well as designated Covid clinics and the Hospital Authority’s teleconsultation service, will suspend their operations.

The mask mandate is not expected to be lifted as quickly, with reports saying it will likely stay until March or April this year.

CE Lee has said in various interviews that masking would likely be the last measure to be lifted because it has proven effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

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Currently, anyone caught not wearing a mask in public is liable to pay a fixed penalty ticket costing $5,000.

Hong Kong gave up most other restrictions in December, including forced quarantine for closed contacts and requiring a negative result for a PCR test for all new arrivals.

This was after China suddenly dropped its zero Covid policy amid a new surge in infections, and reopened its borders this month for the first time in three years.

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Meanwhile, reports say the government is likely to remove its PCR test mandate for those traveling between Hong Kong and the mainland ahead of the Lunar New Year which starts this Sunday.

Legislators lobbying for the scrapping of the test have reportedly told Chief Secretary Eric Chan that Hongkongers returning from the mainland are having difficulty getting the test done as many of the testing sites in China have been closed or their opening hours shortened.

Currently, travelers to and from the mainland will have to obtain a negative PCR test result up to 48 hours before crossing the border.

The planned lifting of the test mandate is expected to apply even for those traveling to the mainland.

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Libreng ticket sa Ferris Wheel ipamimigay sa mga DH

 

Mamimigay ng libreng ticket sa HK Observation Wheel para sa mga domestic helper. (Li Ka Shing Foundation photo)

Ikaw ba ay domestic helper at gustong sumakay sa malaking Ferris Wheel sa tabi ng mga pier sa Central?

May pagkakataon kang mabigyan ng libreng ticket mula sa pinakamayamang tao sa Hong Kong: si Li Ka Shing.

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Ayon sa  Li Ka Shing Foundation, may 26,000 na ticket ang ipamimigay sa mga dayuhang kasambahay, mga doktor at iba pang nangalaga sa kalusugan ng mga taga-Hong Kong bilang pagkilala sa kanilang ambag, lalo na noong kasagsagan ng Covid-19 pandemic.

“Napansin ni Mr. Li ang pagsisimula ng ‘New Year Festival’ sa Central mula sa kanyang opisina,” ika ng foundation.

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Agad daw niyang tinawagan ang mga organizer upang magbigay ng 26,000 ticket para sa libreng sakay sa Ferris Wheel ng mga kasambahay, doktor at iba pang nangalaga sa Hong Kong noong pandemic.

“Ang pangangalaga sa ating kalusugang pisikal at mental, ang pagpapahalaga sa isa’t isa ay isang mahalagang regalo,” ika ni Li sa isang Facebook post ng kanyang foundation. “Binabati ko kayong lahat ng mapagpalang Bagong Taon.”

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Sinabi ng Li Ka Shing Foundation na ang mga ticket ay ipapamudmod ng Hospital Authority para sa mga tauhang medical, sa Hong Kong Council of Social Service para sa tauhan ng mga serbisyong panlipunan at mga non-government organization (NGO) para sa mga DH.

Hindi tinukoy ng foundation ang inatasang mamudmod ng ticket sa mga DH.

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Payo ng namamahala ng Hong Kong Observation Wheel, hintayin ang patalastas mula sa organisasyon na aatasan na mamigay ng ticket sa mga DH.

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Magnanakaw, huli dahil sa tapang ng Pilipinang DH

Isa sa mga solong bahay sa Redhill Peninsula ang pinagtangkaang nakawan (Wikimedia photo)

Nagulantang ang isang Pilipinang domestic helper bandang alas dos ng madaling araw kahapon, Martes, nang makitang may tao sa loob ng kanyang silid tulugan sa bahay ng kanyang mga amo sa Palm Drive, Redhill Peninsula sa Tai Tam.

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Imbes matakot sa taong nakita niyang naghahalughog sa kuwarto ay nagsisigaw ang 41 taong gulang na Pilipina, dahilan para tumakbo palabas ang magnanakaw.

Buo ang loob na tumawag ng pulis ang Pilipina, at agad namang dumating ang mga ito para mag-imbestiga.

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Pagkatapos ng may dalawang oras na paghahanap sa paligid ng solong bahay ay namataan ng mga pulis ang isang lalaki sa may Tai Tam beach. Nang tanungin nila ito ay nalaman nilang isa itong illegal immigrant galing ng Mainland, at nakita sa kanyang backpack ang mga gamit para sa panloloob.

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Ayon sa isang tagapagsalita ng pulis, ang lalaki na nasa 40 taong gulang ay inaresto dahil sa tangkang pagnanakaw, pagdadala ng mga gamit na maaring gamitin sa pagnanakaw, at pagpasok ng walang permiso sa Hong Kong.

Wala daw anumang gamit na nakuha mula sa bahay.

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Nabanggit naman sa ibang balita na ang may-ari ng bahay ay isang mayamang taga Mainland na nakatira doon kasama ang pamilya at ilang domestic worker na pawang mga Pilipino, at pati mga alagang aso.

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Filipina, 35, dies of heart attack

By The SUN

 

Rowena's grateful post shortly after she was rushed to hospital

“Sariling laban. (emojis) Kala ko mamatay na ako kagabi, wag muna ang bata ko pa. thank you Lord.”

(My own struggle. I thought I would die last night, I shouldn’t, I am too young. Thank you Lord.”

This was the Facebook post made by 35-year-old Rowena Butacan shortly after being told at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital last Friday, Jan. 13, that she had a heart attack.

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She lived just long enough to make the post and have a chat with her longtime partner, Red Ramos  when she had another cardiac arrest, more massive this time, from which she never woke up.

Rowena was officially declared dead at about 5am on Saturday, after she was unplugged from a life support machine.

Red still  recalls the last conversation they had, when Rowena told him about how the doctors had told her that she almost died from a heart attack. Though grateful that she survived it, she did not pay it much heed.

Little did they know that it would be their last conversation with each other.

Red and Rowena in a picture taken in September last year, when she took a month-long vacation

Rowena’s sudden death is double the heartache for Red because he had just arrived in Poland the previous day, to take up the job of a machine operator. That means going back to their home in Cagayan in time for his partner’s funeral and console their seven-year-old daughter Reine is out of the question.

Now, all that their family wants is for Rowena’s remains to be repatriated as soon as possible, though they have been told by the Consulate that the process would take between two to three weeks.

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Her friends have also indicated a desire to see Rowena for the last time, so a public viewing of her remains is being planned. 

Red said Rowena had been on medication for her high blood measure, but had no other underlying condition.

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“Wala po siyang sakit, nagulat na lang po sya nung sinabi ng doktor na may sakit siya sa puso,” said Red. (She had no known ailment, so she was surprised when the doctor told her that she had a heart condition).

Rowena had been with her current employer for three years, but had worked previously in Taiwan, as well as in Hong Kong. Before each deployment, she had to undergo a medical check-up to make sure she was fit to work abroad.

Red said Rowena passed all these tests without a problem.

A fit-looking Rowena in one of her hikes

Her Facebook posts also show she was quite active, having taken up hiking in Hong Kong. One post said she had scaled the Devil’s Peak but vowed not to do it again.

Just before she was rushed to hospital, Rowena had complained of severe chest pains that her employer, who had tested positive and was isolating at home, had to call an ambulance for her.

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Her sudden death at a relatively young age is something her family and friends are still having difficulty coming to terms with.

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