Meal provider for quarantine camp changes after diarrhea incident

The meal provider for quarantine camp in Penny Bay has been changed from Danny Catering Service to Delicious Chef King Catering, after at least 16 people had diarrhea as they consumed meals at the center last Friday. 

Apart from the lunchboxes, problems within the camp also caused residents’ fury, including blocked toilets and freezing temperatures. 

The Centre for Health Protection said that Danny Catering Service is no longer providing meals to any quarantine center and so far no centers received similar reports again. They said they will closely monitor the quality of the catering company and will follow reports in a serious manner. 

Ray Chui Man-wai, chairman of the Institute of Dining Art, believed that such poor quality meals appeared in Penny Bay because of long transportation route and low costs. 

He said that the industry does not have any food processing factories on Lantau Island. It takes time to deliver the food and food may have gone bad during transportation. 

The tender price of each lunchbox cost around HK$30 and many providers found the price too low and were not willing to place their bid. Chui explained that government may have only taken cost, food safety or nutritional value into account while a more reasonable price for a lunchbox should cost between HK$40 to 45. 

Residents of Allway Gardens in Tsuen Wan said that families had diarrhea after finishing the lunch boxes provided by the quarantine center. Noodle cups, followed by hot meals were provided later, after reporting the incident. 

Some also complained that there were splinters on the beds in the quarantine center and their requests for extra blankets were ignored.