Letters | Why Hong Kong must help Nepal fight Covid-19

The pandemic has hit the country in a catastrophic way, directly affecting the more than 20,000 Nepalese in Hong Kong

Nepal

Letters

Published: 6:30am, 18 May 2021

Why you can trust SCMP

It is time for Hong Kong to aid the people of Nepal. The pandemic has hit that small country in a catastrophic way. The variant of the virus first detected in India has crossed the border and is causing a large number of deaths.

Nepal lacks access to vaccines and has a very undeveloped medical service. The country has reportedly run out of oxygen and the cylinders in which to store it. Their hospitals are overrun, and people who cannot be admitted are dying outside them.

This situation directly affects the more than 20,000-strong Nepalese population here in Hong Kong. They all have family back in Nepal and are affected in some way. All travel to Nepal has had to be stopped.

When travel opens up again with Nepal – as it must, for the Nepalese here will need to travel there and back at some point – Hong Kong will open itself up to a virus that in Nepal is unchecked. Nepalese staff fill many positions here in hospitality, security, cleaning, driving and construction, sectors in which they are inevitably in contact each day with large numbers of the Hong Kong public. The virus will spread.

03:12

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This is not just a humanitarian issue affecting a country to which many of Hongkongers are tied. It is one of self-interest.

We urgently need to help Nepal fight the virus.

Nigel Collett, North Point

Why are helpers being singled out for testing?

I’m surprised our domestic helpers were again ordered to take a test for Covid-19 after doing the same on May 9. There is no logic I can see behind this requirement unless this is a tit for tat for the withdrawal of the vaccination order.

One is left to wonder if our helpers will be required to undergo this testing every two weeks henceforth and, if so, why their employers are not required to do the same. One might argue that helpers congregate indiscriminately when on their weekly leave, but our wet markets are packed shoulder to shoulder daily, and more than once a day at that.

If we are not picking on our valuable helpers, then please explain the requirement for this second test. No one likes being categorised, so do unto others as you would have done unto you.

James A. Elms, Mid-Levels