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If epidemic prevention is to be "relenting", violators should be severely punished

2022-01-06T11:01:44.130Z


The fifth wave of the local new crown pneumonia epidemic was on the verge of an outbreak. The variant virus was originally brought into the community because the crew members had gone out during the home quarantine period. Later, as the work of tracking the local transmission chain progressed, it broke out more and more


The fifth wave of the local new crown pneumonia epidemic was on the verge of an outbreak. The variant virus was originally brought into the community because the crew members had gone out during the home quarantine period.

Later, as the work of tracking the local transmission chain progressed, more and more epidemic prevention loopholes were exposed. For example, the crew of departing passenger planes changed their identities to return to Hong Kong to avoid compulsory quarantine, those who had home quarantine changed their residences, and some It is suspected that the infected person did not scan the QR code of "Travel with peace of mind" before entering the restaurant to eat.


Local follow-up cases also included a foreign domestic helper who had contact with a relative of an infected crew member and participated in church gatherings twice on weekends and holidays. There were about 50 people and 80 people on the scene.

As the domestic helper felt unwell and developed fever, cough and other illnesses, the domestic helper instructed her to go to the foreign helper’s dormitory to rest, and she also returned to the church involved to eat again before seeking medical treatment. As a result, the scope of the infectious group was further expanded .

Zhang Zhujun, director of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Center for Health Protection, said at a press conference on the outbreak on January 5 that the 42-year-old male surveyor (No. 12767) who had been initially diagnosed yesterday may be separated from the Cathay Pacific flight attendant’s mother who was in Tin Hau Victoria Park. The intersection of 20 meters "distance contact".

(Photo by Ou Jiale)

The gap in epidemic prevention is overwhelming

The above-mentioned examples undoubtedly reflect that Hong Kong still has multiple loopholes in epidemic prevention, regardless of external prevention of imports or internal prevention of proliferation.

The fact that aircrews evaded quarantine by changing the service aircraft category just shows that continuing to allow private exempt quarantine groups to exist, in fact, will only induce relevant people to find ways to defraud such treatment, and it is not helpful to prevent the epidemic.

As for those who are quarantined at home, they can travel illegally or change their residences, which naturally means that the authorities are not sufficiently monitoring them.

On the other hand, although the government forced all restaurants to use the "Travel with Peace" app last month, the authorities have relied on the "Octopus" payment record of the confirmed person to trace the source of the infection to a certain restaurant. Demonstrated the lack of real-name system and tracking function of "Travel with peace of mind".

In addition, places such as religious places and dormitories for foreign domestic helpers have become the source of a new wave of epidemics in Hong Kong and other places in the past, but the government seems to have not formulated any arrangements to deal with them.

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Illegal dissemination of drugs should not be exempted

At the same time, although the government has tightened the quarantine exemption arrangements for crew members, it has always felt less positive in punishing airline employees and other suspected violations of regulations and laws for “spreading drugs”.

As of this Tuesday (January 4), when Chief Executive Carrie Lam responded to a reporter’s question on whether the offending crew would be held criminally responsible, he still only said, "Maybe we still need to slowly study whether there is a certain legal basis for legal action. ".

Judging from the publicly available information, the activities of some local confirmed cases are indeed suspected of violating various laws.

Aircrews who change their identities before and after their departure from Hong Kong and change their residences during home quarantine may have the opportunity to commit the crime of “providing false or misleading information to authorized personnel” under Article 9 of the Regulations on Compulsory Quarantine of Persons Arriving to Hong Kong from Foreign Areas .

If the person in charge of the restaurant fails to ensure that customers use "Travel with peace of mind" or the customers themselves do not use "Travel with peace of mind", they should have violated Article 7 and of the "Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulations and Instructions) (Business and Premises) Regulations" respectively). Article 7AA.

The scope of this type of suspected illegality is not even limited to the laws related to epidemic prevention. For example, if the employer of a foreign domestic helper instructs her to live elsewhere, it may not meet the requirements of Article 3 of the Standard Employment Contract (ID407) that the foreign domestic helper must work and live at the employer’s address. , Which may violate the relevant misrepresentation crimes stipulated in Article 42 of the Immigration Regulations.

Even though the requirement for compulsory foreign domestic helpers to live with their employers is questionable, it is still a policy and law in effect in Hong Kong, and the authorities should not be lax in law enforcement.

Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor described the new round of epidemic prevention measures to be "fast, ruthless, and accurate." Then, in order to be effective, the government must severely punish cases that violate epidemic prevention regulations or other laws, so that prevention and control can be clearly communicated to the society. The message of the epidemic is "ruthless" so as to prevent a few citizens from continuing to hold on to the antagonistic heart.

Why we should be vaccinated, understand that the same boat can effectively fight the epidemic, rational and mutual trust can plug the loopholes in epidemic prevention

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-01-06

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