Coronavirus: Philippine foreign secretary slams Hong Kong’s push for domestic worker vaccination as ‘discriminatory’
- Foreign affairs secretary Teodoro Locsin Jnr backs call by consul general in city to extend such measures to all foreign workers
- City’s deputy leader defends proposal and says inoculation measures crucial for Hong Kong’s pandemic survival
A top Philippine official has slammed Hong Kong’s push for mandatory Covid-19 vaccination for all domestic workers as a move that “smacks of discrimination”, as long lines formed at screening centres around the city set up to serve helpers obeying compulsory testing orders.
Foreign affairs secretary Teodoro Locsin Jnr made the comments on social media, echoing a call from the country’s consulate in Hong Kong.
On Sunday, Hong Kong Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said the jabs requirement for helpers was still being studied, and insisted the inoculation drive remained vital for the city to recover from the pandemic.
His blog post came as the city confirmed two Covid-19 cases, both imported, taking the overall tally to 11,784, with 210 related deaths.
No new cases have so far been detected among domestic workers or Tung Chung residents who were issued with compulsory testing notices after targeted groups rushed to get screened over the weekend.
Some 113,000 tests were done across the city on Saturday, including 52,000 from domestic helpers. More than 54,000 test samples were collected as of 6pm on Sunday.
The Department of Health also announced it would ban passenger flights operated by Turkish Airlines from Istanbul from Monday to May 16 after it carried three infected passengers on April 27.