District 18 News
Written by: Zeng Fengting
2020-12-06 16:26
Last update date: 2020-12-06 17:04
The fourth wave of the new crown pneumonia epidemic hit, the government announced on the 2nd of this month that the gathering restriction order was tightened, and street gatherings in public places or restaurants are limited to groups of 2 people. Violators will be prosecuted.
However, the reporter visited the places where foreign domestic helpers gathered in Tsuen Wan and Sham Shui Po today (6th) and found that some foreign domestic helpers ignored the gathering restrictions and gathered on the streets on Christmas Eve to seal the boxes. The hometown food shops in the malls turned into restaurants. Openly recruiting foreign domestic helpers to sit and eat without a cover, the most exaggerated six people eat on the same table, increasing the risk of collective infection.
Every weekend is a holiday for foreign domestic helpers, and most people choose to go out and meet with fellow villagers. Among them, the Shenshui Shebeihe Shopping Mall and Tsuen Wan Lisheng Plaza are the gathering places for foreign domestic helpers. There are a large number of hometown food shops and currency exchanges in the mall. In shops and express shops, foreign domestic helpers can shop and send money in the mall on the spot, and then pick up the items on the spot and send them to their hometown.
Mr. Wu, a newspaper stall owner who has been selling stalls outside Leeson Plaza in Tsuen Wan for many years, said that on weekends or public holidays, from 11 am to 6 pm, it is the peak period for foreign domestic helpers to gather to carry goods and seal containers. One month before Christmas Eve, the flow of people was even more prosperous. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the police occasionally stayed there for 3 to 4 hours to enforce the law.
Crowds in the streets of Sham Shui Po, Tsuen Wan
A reporter from Hong Kong 01 went to observe the 100-meter footpath along the section from the Red Cross Blood Donation Center outside Lisheng Square to Ludewei at 11:30 this morning and found that at least 400 foreign domestic helpers gathered on the street and carried the goods into cardboard boxes. Some foreign domestic helpers wear masks consciously and try their best to take care of them on the side of the road. However, some foreign domestic helpers do not follow the rules and place a lot of clothes in the middle of the road. Some foreign domestic helpers sit on the side of the road and take off their masks to eat. The narrowing was more than half, and it was too crowded.
FEHD staff arrived at the scene at 11:15 in the morning to distribute flyers to foreign domestic helpers, advising to comply with the requirements of the gathering restriction order. At 12 noon, they started to join forces with two uniformed police officers to enforce the law. During the period, a fixed penalty ticket of 2,000 yuan was issued to a maid suspected of violating the gathering restriction order and her personal information was registered.
Another place where foreign domestic helpers are concentrated in Beihe Shopping Mall, Sham Shui Po, the streets are also crowded with people. In addition to foreign domestic helpers busy packing the goods on the street, sealing the boxes and sending them home, there are also South Asian hawkers selling at street stalls. Some people wear them. Masks, but the mask was removed to talk with the foreign domestic helper in the middle, which increased the risk of infection. During the period, FEHD personnel were on the scene to monitor, but no action was taken.
Hometown shop changes into restaurants on weekends
The reporter walked into Beihe Shopping Mall to inspect and found five to six food shops in the hometown of foreign domestic helpers. They turned into restaurants on weekends and cooked directly in the shops. The clerk picked up the menu to attract diners, each of which was less than 100 square feet. At least 10 foreign domestic helpers gathered inside, and all the restaurants did not comply with the restrictions on gatherings. There were more than two diners per table. They were sitting in rows without cover for meals. The most exaggerated table was 6 diners. There is also no 1.5-meter distance or partition between the stations. If someone has been infected with the new crown pneumonia virus, it will trigger a "domestic helper infection group" at any time.
The reporter checked the FB page of the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong. On December 3, on the day of the implementation of the new restriction order, a post in Filipino to remind foreign domestic helpers to pay attention to the situation, but the FB page or official website of the Indonesian Consulate in Hong Kong did not mention it Precautions after implementation of relevant new measures.
The FB page of the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong informed the helpers of the latest gathering restrictions in Filipino on the 3rd of this month.
(FB screenshot)
The convener of the FDH Volunteer Team, Chen Jinhua, said that employers have constantly reminded FDHs to wear masks when going out during vacations and to use hand sanitizer every time they touch foreign objects. However, they must remove the masks when eating, which cannot be controlled. Every move they made when they went out, "the employer was so surprised, they have been mentioned and mentioned again, but they are all in the form of persuasion." She suggested that the government should cooperate with the Indonesian or Philippine consulates or trade unions in Hong Kong and talk to foreign domestic helpers through local people. The new restrictions on gatherings have strengthened the awareness of epidemic prevention.
New crown pneumonia│The employer is shocked to be ill and refuses to return the "false positive" foreign domestic helper
New crown pneumonia | Police patrols Saigon camp to catch netizens who violate the rules and restrictions: home bases and felt search?
New crown pneumonia | Penny's Bay Quarantine Center does not have enough supplies to keep out the cold, and people who cross the border under quarantine get sick
01Community
New Coronary Pneumonia Domestic Helper Tsuen Wan Community Sham Shui Po Community