雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)] Presented by Dr CHAN, Danny Weng-kit, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

[普通話 (足本收聽)] Presented by Dr CHENG, Christine Ching-fong, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

There has been another outbreak involving a dormitory of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in Hong Kong, and one of them has even infected all members of the family she works for. The government has announced that it will provide one-time free testing for all FDHs in Hong Kong. That seems to be the right remedy, but it is doubtful whether it will actually tackle the issue at root. The tests will be conducted over a span of one month and a half and will not be mandatory. As many FDHs are worried about their livelihood more than the risk of infection, we will have to wait and see how many people will actively participate in the testing scheme. Most FDH dormitories are unlicensed and have poor living conditions. As early as the third wave of the pandemic, many people pointed out that FDH dormitories were a major loophole, and they asked the Hong Kong government to strengthen supervision and enforcement. But so far, there has been no significant improvement, as different departments are working separately and shift the responsibility of supervision onto each other. From the spread of the virus on public housing estates under the ''wake effect'' to the outbreak of the pandemic at FDH dormitories, similar infections have occurred time and again. As the authorities have not learnt the lesson from previous loopholes, it is unlikely for them not to repeat the same mistake.

[ENG audio 1]

The number of FDHs in Hong Kong is large, once reaching 400,000 in the middle of last year. After the pandemic broke out this year, the number of FDHs fell, but by the middle of the year there were still more than 360,000. Many families hire FDHs to take care of the elderly and infirm as well as infants, and the biggest concern of employers is that a cluster of infected FDHs will bring the virus home. Recently, an FDH was diagnosed after falling ill for half a month, and virus tests confirmed that all four members of the employer's family were infected, including an infant who is six months old. For a family that employs an FDH, such things are a nightmare.

[ENG audio 2]

The fight against the pandemic is like a war. It must be done quickly, decisively and accurately. Yesterday (December 16), the government announced that in view of the recent emergence of a cluster of FDH infections, the authorities will provide one-time free testing for all FDHs in Hong Kong. The scheme officially starts this Friday (today). Such a practice will always be helpful in identifying more infected people, but it is debatable whether it will be accurate and effective in treating the symptoms at root. The authorities have not classified FDHs as a specific group for mandatory testing, and participation is purely voluntary. Even if an employer ''eagerly requests'' an FDH to do so, the FDH does not necessarily have to comply. For many FDHs, COVID-19 is scary, but losing their jobs is even worse. If the test result is positive, not only do they have to be isolated for treatment, but they also wonder if they will be fired.

[ENG audio 3]

The Labour Department arranged for FDHs living in employment agencies to be tested in August. In recent months, it has also provided three rounds of free testing for FDHs who had their contracts terminated and who were waiting to start working. A cumulative total of more than 8,600 FDHs have been tested. However, if the authorities do not strengthen supervision and close the loopholes, simply doing more testing is just window dressing. For many years, there has been no legislation to regulate FDH dormitories, which are only regulated by different ordinances. As a result, there are many ''grey areas''. The Labour Department has not set out guidelines for FDH dormitories, only saying that it would seriously follow up on non-compliance issues. The public inevitably has to question how ''serious'' the authorities' follow-up actions will be.

[ENG audio 4]

抗疫漏招重蹈覆轍 外傭檢測未堵缺口

本港再有外傭宿舍爆疫，有確診者更帶病感染僱主一家，政府宣布將為全港外傭提供一次過免費檢測，看似有對症下藥，實際是否治標治本，卻令人懷疑。外傭檢測安排拖長個半月來做，又沒強制，不少外傭擔心飯碗多於染疫，多少人會積極參與檢測，還得走着瞧；外傭宿舍多屬無牌經營，居住環境差，早在第三波疫情期間，不少人已指出外傭宿舍是一大防疫漏洞，要求港府加強監管執法，至今卻未見有何顯著改善，不同部門各自為政，監管責任你推我讓。由公屋擾流效應播毒，到外傭宿舍爆疫，相類的感染情况一再發生，當局未有好好汲取抗疫漏招教訓堵塞漏洞，很難不重蹈覆轍。

[PTH audio 1]

在港外傭人數眾多，去年中一度高達40萬。今年疫情爆發後，外傭人數雖見下跌，截至年中仍有超過36萬。不少家庭都聘請外傭，照顧老弱幼小，疫下僱主最擔心的，是外傭群聚感染並將病毒帶回家。最近有外傭病發半個月始確診，病毒檢測證實僱主一家四口悉數中招，包括一名半歲嬰兒。對於家有外傭者，發生這樣的事，正是他們的夢魘。

[PTH audio 2]

抗疫如戰爭，出手必須快、狠、準。昨天政府宣布，鑑於最近出現外傭感染群組，當局將為全港外傭提供一次過免費檢測，本周五正式開始。有關做法對於找出更多感染者，總有一些幫助，然而是否精準到位、治標治本，卻有商榷必要。當局未將外傭列為特定群組強制檢測，是否參與檢測純屬自願，就算僱主「熱切要求」，外傭亦不一定聽從。對很多外傭來說，新冠病毒可怕，丟掉飯碗更慘，萬一檢測結果呈陽性，不僅要隔離治療，更不知會否被解僱。

[PTH audio 3]

勞工處表示，8月曾安排居於職業介紹所的外傭檢測，近月亦為斷約或等待上班的外傭，先後提供3輪免費檢測，累計有超過8600名外傭接受過檢測，然而當局若不加強監管、堵塞漏洞，單是多做檢測，不過是門面工夫。外傭宿舍多年無法例監管，僅藉不同條例約束，有很多「灰色地帶」，勞工處未就外傭宿舍訂立指引，僅說會嚴肅跟進違規問題，市民難免質疑，當局究竟有多「嚴肅」地跟進。

[PTH audio 4]

明報社評2020.12.17