The Philippine authorities have proposed the use of the COVID-19 vaccination certificate recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) to allow its domestic helpers to work in Hong Kong.
On August 2, the Hong Kong government announced that domestic helpers from Indonesia and the Philippines who were earlier barred from entering the city as these countries were listed in the highest-risk category would be able to return if they had been vaccinated in Hong Kong.
The workers were required to be quarantined for 21 days upon entry into one or two specified hotels.
RELATED STORY: Over 100,000 OFWs get COVID-19 jabs in Hong Kong
Chairman of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies, Thomas Chan Tung-fung, said that flight bans on Indonesia and the Philippines, where most of Hong Kong’s 370,000 domestic helpers come from, had created a supply shortage with 6,000 and 6,500 newly hired or those with contracts in the city left stranded in their hometowns.
A suggestion was also made allowing vaccinated Filipino workers to undergo antibody tests in their home country under government-accredited testing institutions before leaving for Hong Kong. (AW)
