The Ombudsman is launching a direct investigation to examine the Government's regulations on boarding facilities for domestic helpers, as a number of them have been infected in the dormitories during the epidemic. Currently, domestic helpers can stay in boarding houses for two weeks while looking for jobs, yet the accommodations were accused of overcrowding, having poor hygiene, and violating building usage. There is no specific legislation nor mechanism established for regulating domestic helpers’ boarding facilities and ensuring their compliance with requirements for fire and building safety measures. So far, 465 domestic helpers have been infected, 212 of them were local infections. The Covid-19 cases involving domestic helpers accounted for around five percent of total cases in Hong Kong.

Source: The Standard January 14, 2021 09:33 UTC