Hong Kong’s fifth coronavirus wave: 60 OFWs now have COVID-19

Nathan Road in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui area is seen almost empty on February 21, 2022, as the city faces its worst Covid-19 coronavirus wave to date. (Photo by Peter PARKS / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — The number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong who have contracted COVID-19 has now climbed to 60 amid the fifth coronavirus wave in China’s special administrative region, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) reported Tuesday.

Of the 60, Polo said 49 patients are asymptomatic while nine are symptomatic and admitted in hospitals, and two patients have recovered.

Polo said they coordinated with the Hong Kong Center for Health Protection and other non-government organizations for the hospital admission and quarantine of the said sick OFWs.

COVID-positive OFWs in Hong Kong earlier sought the assistance of the Philippine government after some of them were allegedly fired by their employers and forced to stay in parks as some were denied admission to hospitals for having terminated contracts and no employment visa.

The government, however, denied this report.

“Polo also visited quarantine facilities and provided food, medicines, and power banks,” Polo Hong Kong said in a statement.

It added that it is “also helping in transporting COVID infected OFWs to quarantine/isolation facilities and if needed, to hospitals in view of the current shortage in available ambulances.”

Polo Hong Kong also said they are closely coordinating with the employers to secure their assurance that the COVID-infected OFWs could resume their work once they recover.

“COVID-19 infection is not a valid ground for termination,” it pointed out.

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