(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) Forgiveness and Strictness Combined with Foreign Helpers in Hong Kong "Fighting the Epidemic at Home"

  China News Agency, Hong Kong, February 24 (Reporter Han Xingtong) Under the fifth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong, the group of foreign domestic helpers (referred to as foreign domestic helpers) who are accustomed to gathering outdoors on rest days has become one of the high-risk groups.

In the past few days, under the promotion of the Hong Kong SAR government and private charitable organizations, foreign domestic helpers have also consciously joined in the "fighting the epidemic at home".

  By the end of 2021, there are about 340,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong.

This huge group plays an important role in maintaining the functioning of Hong Kong society.

  On Sundays and public holidays, foreign domestic helpers can be seen gathering everywhere in Hong Kong. They will use cardboard, tents and other places to build a "small world" on roadsides, footbridges, parks and other places to chat, play cards, sing and dance, etc. Some foreign domestic helpers go to church collectively because of their religious beliefs.

Such a picture has long been reflected in urban life, and people are used to it.

  However, when the fifth wave of the epidemic is raging, such gatherings are like an active volcano, and there is a hidden danger of large-scale group infection at any time.

In order to keep foreign domestic helpers at home, employers have come up with different tricks, such as extra pay to attract foreign domestic helpers to "work overtime".

  From the employer's point of view, it is actually "hard to do".

Ms. Peng, who lives in Tai Po, hired a foreign domestic helper Mariel to help take care of her 3-year-old daughter who is in kindergarten. She admitted: "I understand my sister (the term for foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong) works hard for a week and needs to go out to play with friends." Group gatherings can bring back virus-infected family members, "especially my daughter, who is young and has not been vaccinated against the new crown."

  Bai Junda, an Indian-Hong Kong native who has been helping ethnic minorities for a long time and co-founder of the Empathy Charity Fund, pointed out that one of the difficulties faced by foreign domestic helpers during the epidemic lies in communication barriers and lack of information.

"Many foreign domestic helpers cannot receive information. They may not read Hong Kong news, do not understand policies, and may not understand what 'gathering' is." Bai Junda and about 70 other trade unions distributed promotional materials to foreign domestic helpers.

  Similar publicity and education work, the Hong Kong SAR government has been doing.

Yu Jianqiang, District Commissioner of Yau Tsim Mong of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, told China News Agency that since the outbreak of the epidemic, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has been very concerned about the foreign domestic helper group. Mobile radio calling on foreign domestic helpers to observe social distancing measures.

  This kind of publicity and education work has obviously worked. Mariel told reporters that the information helped them better understand the development of the epidemic and epidemic prevention measures. "Now we all know that the epidemic is serious, and we are afraid of being infected, so we decided to cancel the gathering and temporarily stay at home." For Mariel, getting together with friends on weekends is the "reward" and "motivation" of hard work, and it is also the happiest time of the week for her, and now she has to cancel, and naturally feels lost, "but we understand that the strict policy is to make The epidemic is under control, and we can meet again as soon as possible." Although offline gatherings have been canceled, they will still chat through video and other forms.

  As the so-called leniency and strictness are combined, the SAR government is not only strictly implementing the "gathering restriction order" and "mask order", etc., but also actively raising supplies to help foreign domestic helpers fight the epidemic.

Yu Jianqiang said that the Home Affairs Office will coordinate the materials donated by charitable organizations, such as masks, hand sanitizers, rapid test kits, etc., and then distribute them to foreign domestic helpers in need through ethnic groups or charities.

  Empathy is one of the charitable organizations. Bai Junda often goes to Tung Chung, Sham Shui Po and other hard-hit areas to distribute rapid test kits and masks to foreign domestic helpers and ethnic minorities.

  At present, the isolation facilities in Hong Kong are full, and tens of thousands of initially confirmed patients are waiting to be admitted to the hospital, including foreign domestic helpers.

Bai Junda has received some requests for help, and the foreign domestic helper who is waiting for admission to isolation has to find another place for temporary isolation in order to avoid infecting the employer's family.

Bai Junda will assist foreign domestic helpers in need to find temporary accommodation, "for example, call some guest houses (similar to guest houses or dormitories) to see if they can be rented to foreign domestic helpers for a cheaper price. Hundreds of Hong Kong dollars."

  At present, the trend of the epidemic is not yet clear. Huang Yinghong, the founder of the Empathy Charity Fund, pointed out that on the one hand, Empathy will fully cooperate with the SAR government to do a good job of policy publicity, and on the other hand, it will continue to coordinate the distribution of materials.

"In any case, at this moment, we must have no distinction between each other and race. Starting from empathy, we must help each other and help each other." (End)