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Provide more quarantine rooms for foreign domestic helpers to come to HK
Employment agencies urged the government to invite more hotels to provide quarantine rooms, as more foreign domestic helpers will be coming to Hong Kong after the flight ban is lifted.
The government on Monday announced that the ban imposed on flights from nine countries, including the Philippines, will be lifted starting April 1.
Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies' chairman Chan Tung-fung hoped the lifted ban can help alleviate the city's shortage of domestic helpers by allowing those with a valid work visa to board a plane.
In the Philippines, around 4,000 to 5,000 domestic helpers were strained due to the flight ban.
Although flights will soon be available, it will be almost impossible for helpers to book a quarantine hotel.
All such rooms are fully booked now, and the shortage will become more serious when students studying abroad return for summer break. The situation may improve by August, he predicted.
He suggested the government to turn hotels used as community isolation facilities back into quarantine hotels for returnees. But an easier option to increase room supply is to invite more hotels to join the quarantine hotel scheme.
Still, Chan pointed out that the flight-specific suspension mechanism remains problematic for employers and helpers. The mechanism allows the government to suspend an airline's flights from a destination for two weeks after Covid-19 patients were found in a previous flight.
In the face of such suspension, employers can hardly adjust their bookings for quarantine hotels, he said.
Cathay Pacific said on Tuesday that it will only operate one flight per route every two weeks after the flight ban is lifted, due to worries over the flight suspension mechanism.
Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies' chairman Chan Tung-fung hoped the lifted ban can help alleviate the city's shortage of domestic helpers by allowing those with a valid work visa to board a plane.
In the Philippines, around 4,000 to 5,000 domestic helpers were strained due to the flight ban.
Although flights will soon be available, it will be almost impossible for helpers to book a quarantine hotel.
All such rooms are fully booked now, and the shortage will become more serious when students studying abroad return for summer break. The situation may improve by August, he predicted.
He suggested the government to turn hotels used as community isolation facilities back into quarantine hotels for returnees. But an easier option to increase room supply is to invite more hotels to join the quarantine hotel scheme.
Still, Chan pointed out that the flight-specific suspension mechanism remains problematic for employers and helpers. The mechanism allows the government to suspend an airline's flights from a destination for two weeks after Covid-19 patients were found in a previous flight.
In the face of such suspension, employers can hardly adjust their bookings for quarantine hotels, he said.
Cathay Pacific said on Tuesday that it will only operate one flight per route every two weeks after the flight ban is lifted, due to worries over the flight suspension mechanism.
