Expert: All Helpers In Dormitories Must Be Tested

An infectious disease expert on Wednesday criticised the government for not regulating boarding houses for foreign domestic helpers as a Covid-19 cluster linked to a dormitory in Tai Po continued to grow.

Dr Leung Chi-chiu said nothing had been done to improve conditions since an earlier cluster in August, when more than a dozen helpers living in dormitories were infected with the coronavirus.

The government on Tuesday ordered anyone who had been to the dormitory in Fung Nin House in the past month to take a test after eight helpers and four members of the family one of them women works for were confirmed to have the virus. However officials admitted there was no comprehensive record of who had been there, and asked all visitors to come forward.

Leung, an infectious disease expert, said all dormitories should ban visitors for now, and authorities should test all helpers who've stayed in them.

He also suggested that the authorities talk to employer groups to try to persuade helpers to reduce social gatherings over Christmas. He warned the virus could spread quickly if helpers are infected, since they serve some 400,000 households.

By law, domestic helpers are supposed to live with their employers. Some stay in dormitories operated by employment agencies while waiting to start work.

Meanwhile the chairman of the Hong Kong Employment Agencies Association, Cheung Kit-man, estimated there were around 300 unlicensed dormitories for domestic helpers, and warned that it would be difficult for the authorities to check who had stayed there as there were no records

He said he believed hundreds of maids now stayed in these premises, and he had heard that some expatriate employers also allowed their helpers to spend the night out of the house on their day off.

Betty Yung, who chairs the Hong Kong Employers of Overseas Domestic Helpers Association, said employers were worried about the outbreak, but all they could do is to ask the helpers to take their day off on a day other than Sunday, maintain personal hygiene and return home early.