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New crown pneumonia | Philippine crew reveals the source of the false test report

2020-08-08T03:10:26.797Z


"Hong Kong 01" earlier revealed that since the government relaxed restrictions on crew shifts in Hong Kong, many people have been diagnosed. The Hong Kong Government currently requires that the crew members who arrive in Hong Kong must present a negative virus test report issued within two days before boarding and upon arrival in Hong Kong, but


01 Investigation

Author: Zheng Jiaru

2020-08-08 10:51

Last update date: 2020-08-08 10:51

"Hong Kong 01" earlier revealed that since the government relaxed restrictions on crew shifts in Hong Kong, many people have been diagnosed. The Hong Kong government now requires arriving crew members to produce negative virus test reports issued within two days before boarding and upon arrival in Hong Kong. However, since early July, nearly 50 arriving crew members have been diagnosed.

Special reporters bought fake negative virus test documents on Main Street in Manila, Philippines, which originally only cost 80 Hong Kong dollars. A crew member who was about to leave for Hong Kong to change shifts said that he could not afford the cost of the nucleic acid test and therefore would use forged documents to try to clear customs.

The Department of Health replied that there has been no record of travelers providing false documents to department personnel. If found, it will be referred to the relevant law enforcement agency for follow-up investigation.

Manila special correspondent reports online

Marlon (a pseudonym) in his 20s lives in the suburbs of Makati City, Manila. At the end of last year, he loaned about 9,500 Hong Kong dollars (60,000 Philippine pesos) to participate in a three-month seafarer training course. He was qualified to join the trade in January this year. However, because of the epidemic, various parts of the Philippines began to implement foot bans in March. It was not until mid-July that he was successfully hired by a Hong Kong registered oil tanker through a crew agency company.

The company originally arranged for Marlon to fly to Hong Kong to board the ship at the end of July. At that time, the Hong Kong Department of Health required the crew members to present a negative nucleic acid test report upon entry. But in Manila, a viral nucleic acid test costs about HK$1,900, and results can be obtained within one to two days. In contrast, before the loan repayments that need to be deducted, Marlon's monthly salary as a crew member is only about HK$6,200.

(Photo by Manila Special Correspondent)

It is difficult to bear the inspection cost

"A (ship agent) staff member quietly suggested that we first go to the Liwasang Bonifacio district of Manila to do a free government quick test. After confirming that it was negative, he would give us a contact person on Recto Street and help us make a fake ( Nucleic acid testing) certificate." Recto Street in Quezon City has been known for its document forgery industry since the 1980s. Many businesses on both sides of the boulevard will charge fees to fake academic documents for others, or fake health certificates for Filipino workers who will go out to work, including HIV and drug test results.

However, Hong Kong only accepts nucleic acid test reports and does not accept rapid tests. The rapid test usually fails to get the correct result within the first seven days of the infection, and "false negatives" often occur. However, the shipping agent staff believed that even if the nucleic acid test report was forged, the crew could still pass the quarantine when they finally arrived in Hong Kong as long as they passed the quick test. So Marlon went to the Philippine government for a free quick test, queued for two hours, and waited three hours for a negative result. "A friend of mine promised to lend me his fast and nucleic acid test report, and let me take it (forge) and change my name and date." He complained, "but it's also very expensive, it costs 500 pesos ( 80 Hong Kong dollars).”

Marlon has not yet left for Hong Kong. Because the Manila government announced the implementation of a foot ban, all flights will be suspended until August 18, and Marlon’s boarding date will also be postponed. Before and after, Marlon's departure date was changed three times due to the epidemic. In other words, if he paid for a real test early in the morning, it would be a waste of money.

According to information on the intermediary’s webpage, the company operates more than 600 ocean-going vessels worldwide and employs more than 18,000 crew members. Its Philippine branch manages a total of 6,500 Filipino crew members, mainly working for oil tankers, natural gas ships and cargo ships. It is a large multinational enterprise and has an office in Hong Kong to provide shipping agency services.

Recto Avenue in Quezon City, Manila has been known for its document forgery industry since the 1980s. Many businesses on both sides of the boulevard will charge fees to fake academic documents for others, or fake health certificates for Filipino workers who will go out to work, including HIV and drug test results. (Photo by Manila Special Correspondent)

Department of Health: If anyone is found to provide false documents, it will be handed over to law enforcement agencies

According to the regulations issued by the Hong Kong government on July 10, cargo or passenger ship crews arriving in Hong Kong by plane from other places must have ISO 15189 certification or a laboratory recognized by the local government within 48 hours before arriving in Hong Kong. Accepted the new coronary pneumonia virus nucleic acid test and got a negative result. The shipping company or shipping agent is required to submit a statement to the Immigration Department on the letter of guarantee that the crew members who are about to arrive in Hong Kong have obtained a negative test result, and when they arrive in Hong Kong, they must present the test report and the letter of guarantee to the staff of the Department of Health. As of the 29th, the government has tightened the regulations to restrict only cargo ship crews with loading and unloading to Hong Kong for shifts, but the mandatory quarantine is still exempted for 14 days.

The Department of Health responded to the "Hong Kong 01" enquiry and stated that there is no record of travelers providing false documents to the staff of the Department of Health. If found, the department will refer to the relevant law enforcement agencies for follow-up investigations, but there is no reply on how to verify the authenticity of the 28 crew members’ test reports and whether they retain the documents presented by the crew.

Forged and fake test certificate Sheng Hui 80 yuan

In order to understand the details of the fake certificate, a special correspondent from the Philippines of "Hong Kong 01" visited the Recto Avenue in question earlier this week and pretended to be an overseas worker. He asked the printing shop and book binding shop there to find out if it would help the forgery. Virus test results. Many merchants refused on the grounds that the epidemic was severe and they were afraid of police crackdowns. However, a merchant that provided services such as photocopying and notarization of documents told reporters that as long as a true negative test result is presented, the date and other information can be forged.

The reporter then went to an accredited private laboratory that specializes in performing health checks for crew members to do a rapid blood antibody test and obtain an official letter from the laboratory confirming the negative test result. He handed the letter to the merchant who falsified the document, and then retrieved an almost identical letter including the laboratory bump watermark, but the date was changed from "August 3rd" to "August 17th." The whole process only needs about 80 Hong Kong dollars and one hour waiting time.

Looking through the information, it turns out that in July, a photo accused the merchant of forging the results of the new crown pneumonia test was spread wildly on the Internet in the Philippines. The Manila police acted immediately and arrested two female traders involved in falsifying virus tests. According to maritime media reports, the Singapore Seaport Authority recently issued a warning that overseas crew members tried to enter the country using tampered virus test results, and were later found to be diagnosed. Singapore immediately banned a number of shipping agents involved in applying for crew changes.

(Online picture)

New crown pneumonia│The Department of Health first confirmed that a crew member was diagnosed after arriving in Hong Kong with a cargo ship and revealed that there are still loopholes in the quarantine

New crown pneumonia | International Chamber of Shipping requests to allow crew to change shifts: everyone should thank them for their contributions

Once lobbied the Hong Kong government to allow the crew to change. Shipowners’ Association: The 300,000 crew drifting at sea is a humanitarian crisis

New crown pneumonia│The arriving crew continue to walk into the community to hit the Filipino crew and visit the supermarket before boarding

New crown pneumonia│Ignoring government quarantine regulations, Precious Blood Hospital and four clinics receive crew testing for the virus

Philippine seafarers

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2020-08-08

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