Manpower almost doubled at Penny's Bay: Sophia Chan

Manpower at Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre has been pumped up to 1,000 from 600 to cater to the increased number of citizens in the isolation camp, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said.

She was answering an urgent oral question raised by lawmaker Edward Leung Hei from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, who slammed the isolation center’s mismanagement and unsatisfactory hygiene conditions.

Dozens of citizens were last week forced to delay their time to leave the camp, because they had not been arranged to take Covid-19 tests before they could go home.

Chan said the demand at Penny’s Bay has surged rapidly recently, and there was one day when some 800 people were sent to the camp as she admitted there were “isolated incidents” of citizens suffering from delays in leaving the camp.

“We apologize for the inconvenience caused to the persons under quarantine, and have immediately carried out improvement measures,” she said.

As of 9am Wednesday, the 3,416-unit Penny’s Bay facility saw 886 people living in 651 units. Apart from some units undergoing maintenance or disinfection, 1,552 were ready to be used.

Chan said the measures involved additional manpower allocated to Penny’s Bay who were reassigned from the Department of Health and Civil Aid Service, which are in charge of operation of the center, while the Fire Services Department also temporarily deployed staff to the facility to pump up the total to 1,000.

The CAS also had arranged more experienced officers for data entry tasks and asked them to cross-check information of people in quarantine every night to ensure the accuracy of check in and out records. Authorities also stepped up with communication between quarantine staffers.

“We note that the number of enquiries received at the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre has drastically increased in recent days, resulting in a longer turnaround time for enquiries,” Chan said.

Apart from arranging more officers to handle enquiries, the center also proactively disseminates the latest information to quarantine campers through instant messaging mobile applications.

“The DH had also temporarily set up a 24-hour dedicated hotline for persons under quarantine to enquire about the checking-out arrangements,” she said.

A cross-departmental coordination group led by the health department has been formed to facilitate liaison between departments when the number of campers surge and when authorities update quarantine requirements.

Chan said she understood quarantine arrangements have brought public inconvenience but added it is an important part of the SAR’s anti-Covid work.

Over the past two years, 68,000 people underwent quarantine at the centers, among whom more than 2,700, or 4 percent, were eventually confirmed with Covid-19.

Currently there are five centers providing 4,680 units, with Penny's Bay the largest. Last week, two security guards at Penny’s Bay were infected and authorities are still tracing their source of infection.

Chan said authorities are “highly concerned” about the two infections and camp management had immediately strengthened infection control measures and reminded staffers to eat meals separately.

The Civil Aid Service meanwhile had arranged cleaning and disinfection of the areas where the security workers had worked and sent 18 guards who were identified as close contacts to undergo quarantine.

She said to protect workers at the center, they must wear a full set of gear including surgical mask, face shield, cap, gown and gloves at work. They must also be fully vaccinated – two shots of vaccine – and take Covid tests every two days.