HK to unveil entry plan for vaccinated maids

HONG KONG: The authorities in Hong Kong will lift a ban on foreign domestic helpers from the Philippines and Indonesia entering the city if they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

But they will have to return in batches to ensure that the public healthcare system and quarantine facilities are not overloaded.

Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that details of the plan, including recognition of helpers’ vaccination records from the two countries, would be announced this week.

Speaking at her weekly briefing, Lam noted that the two countries were in the high-risk category for Covid-19 and that vaccinated visitors from those places had to undergo 21 days of quarantine.

“The number of foreign domestic helpers who could come back to Hong Kong through this special arrangement has to be controlled.

“We cannot allow thousands of foreign domestic helpers to come in every week. Otherwise, the chance of having more confirmed cases – either discovered at the airport or during the quarantine period – would overload the Hong Kong public hospital system,” she said.

The government will designate a specific hotel for these helpers to serve their quarantine.

It will be a different hotel from those in a designated list for other passengers arriving in Hong Kong to serve their quarantine.

“Right now, we have secured one with about 400 hotel rooms. We will try to get another one later on as the helpers come back in phases,” Lam said.

She appealed to the employers of these foreign domestic helpers to “be more patient with the system” as there were a few thousand of them stranded in the Philippines and Indonesia, who would not be able to return to Hong Kong so soon.

There has been a shortage of maids in Hong Kong after flights from the Philippines and Indonesia were banned in April and June, respectively, following a surge in coronavirus cases in the two countries.

On Sunday, Philippine Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello III said around 3,000 Filipino helpers would be able to enter Hong Kong soon. — The Straits Times/ANN