'Mandatory Tests Not Stigmatising Foreign Helpers'

Health Secretary Sophia Chan on Saturday dismissed suggestions that the government is stigmatising foreign domestic helpers after ordering some 370,000 of them to take Covid-19 tests.

Officials made the order after two helpers were diagnosed with a more infectious strain of the virus. Migrant workers' advocates strongly criticised the decision.

The government also plans to force helpers to get vaccinated if they want to renew or apply for visas to work in Hong Kong.

Chan said the Labour Department was working on the details, including whether those with health problems could be exempt and the responsibilities of employers to helpers who develop severe side-effects after inoculation.

She stressed the measures were intended to reduce risk, as helpers often work with elderly people and the very young.

"It's important for us to build herd immunity so that everybody is being protected, including those who can't be vaccinated. This is a very important measure. There's no discrimination in the measures the government recently came up with," the health minister said.

Chan added that testing capacity was being increased and more mobile testing stations were arranged for the estimated 370,000 helpers who need to get tested by May 9.

However, all 21 community testing centres were already fully booked over the weekend.

The health chief said officials would monitor the situation and see whether they would have to extend the deadline.

Meanwhile, the official in charge of the SAR's vaccination programme, civil service chief Patrick Nip, told a radio programme that there's been a pick-up in the number of people signing up for inoculation.

However, Nip conceded that the vaccination rate still fell well short of the 50,000 places available each day.

He also played down suggestions that the government's vaccine bubble plan, which allows for more relaxed social distancing rules in venues such as restaurants, was designed to boost vaccination.

Nip questioned why people had a problem with the idea of relaxing social distancing measures for people who have built up protection against the virus, adding that inoculation was the only way out of the pandemic.