Lawmaker calls for improved quarantine measures

Election Committee lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon called on authorities to improve their management of the quarantine facility at Penny’s Bay and rationalize its whole quarantine procedure.  

Her comments came after she received a complaint from a Penny’s Bay “resident” of the terrible experience during a seven-day quarantine at the facility.  

The citizen told Kong that he was alerted of his positive Covid results after staying at a quarantine hotel for two days, with his samples taken on the first day upon arriving in the city with his elderly mother.  

Kong noted that the citizen was told by the Civil Aid Service that both he and his mother would have to stay in the center for another seven days, different from the official guideline that stipulated that the starting date of quarantine should be the first day of testing positive.  

Separately, Kong said the citizen also raised concerns about the facility’s management.  

The citizen said the day when they completed their quarantine, people had to queue under the burning sun waiting for transportation to leave the center and that two women almost suffered from heatstroke.  

It was also said that the Civil Aid Service personnel would not help to carry the luggage for the quarantined and were “seemingly afraid of getting infected.”  

“The citizen who questioned about the mismanagement also find it ridiculous that all this is still happening after two years into the epidemic,” Kong wrote.  

The lawmaker said an overhaul is required to rationalize the entire quarantine procedures and that the quarantine must be driven by a well-established logical system.