8 out of 76 COVID-positive OFWs in Hong Kong confined in hospitals

People queue up for COVID-19 tests in the pouring rain in Hong Kong on February 22, 2022, as the city faces its worst coronavirus wave to date. (Photo by Peter PARKS / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — Eight out of the 76 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who contracted COVID-19 in Hong Kong are now in hospitals, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac reported Wednesday.

“As of the beginning of today, 76 po ang nadapuan ng COVID and walo po ay nasa ospital, admitted sa ospital and all the rest po ay nasa isolation facilities, either nasa employer’s home isolation sila — ang karamihan ng employer’s home isolation — or nasa Hong Kong government isolation or nasa NGO (non-government organization) isolation,” Cacdac said in a Laging Handa public briefing.

(As of the beginning of today, 76 were infected by COVID, and eight are admitted in hospitals while the rest are in isolation facilities, either their employer’s home isolation — where most are — or the Hong Kong government isolation or NGO isolation facilities.)

According to Cacdac, they have received reports of OFWs being terminated from work after getting COVID-19.

“Ngayon po, mayroon tayong reported case which is na mga na-terminate na mga OFWs, pero ang ipinag-utos po ni Secretary [Silvestre] Bello ay kausapin ‘yung employers para makumbinsi sila,” he shared.

(Now, we have reported cases of terminated OFWs but Secretary Bello instructed them to convince their employers.)

“Under Hong Kong law po ay hindi sila dapat i-terminate kasi pwede naman mag-sick leave o ‘di kaya makabalik after maka-recover,” he added.

(Under the Hong Kong law, infected OFWs should not be terminated because they can file sick leaves or can return to work after recovering.)

Employers in Hong Kong who would terminate their OFW employees will face consequences from the governments of the Chinese special administrative region and the Philippines.

“Ang posibleng kaharapin ay ‘yung labor case [sa Hong Kong] dahil nga kung tuluyan nilang ite-terminate ‘yung ating OFW. Susunod ay ‘yung dito sa Poea (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration), nag-deklara na rin si Sec. Bello na iba-blacklist ‘yung employers na ganu’n ang naging treatment sa ating manggagawa,” said Cacdac.

(Employers may face a labor case in Hong Kong if they will push through with the termination of OFWs. In the Poea, Sec. Bello declared that employers who treat our workers that way would be blacklisted.)

Hong Kong is currently experiencing its fifth COVID-19 surge and some OFWs in the special administrative region who contracted COVID-19 are now asking assistance after being fired by their employers.

Earlier, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the government had extended assistance to OFWs in Hong Kong who were infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

/MUF