Coronavirus: Hong Kong experts back lifting entry ban for vaccinated helpers, but warning issued against diverting jabs away from vulnerable groups

University of Hong Kong professors Benjamin Cowling and Gabriel Leung support return of domestic helpers

But while Leung wants ‘closed-loop’ approach, Cowling warns about ethical impact of saying arrivals must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before they land

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Passengers queue at Hong Kong International Airport before being transported to designated quarantine hotels. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 9:00am, 16 Jul 2021Updated: 10:17pm, 16 Jul 2021

Two leading epidemiologists have backed Hong Kong’s plan to lift the entry ban on vaccinated domestic helpers from Indonesia and the Philippines, but one suggested allowing them to take the Covid-19 jabs on arrival to avoid diverting resources away from vulnerable groups in their home countries.

Benjamin Cowling and Gabriel Leung, professors at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), were commenting on the government’s plan to allow residents and work visa holders from extremely high-risk countries to return from next week if they have recognised vaccination records.

Unvaccinated local minors studying in Britain, one of the countries on the list, can also fly back.

While Cowling warned about potential ethical issues, Leung, who is a government coronavirus adviser and dean of HKU’s faculty of medicine, said the policy needed a carefully calibrated “closed-loop” approach, including designated flights and hotels, point-to-point local transport, and a 21-day quarantine.

A source familiar with the matter said that under the plan, only those with vaccination records from Hong Kong, mainland China or countries recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having stringent regulatory authorities would be allowed to enter the city.

Among the eight countries deemed extremely high risk, only Britain is on the WHO list. The other seven countries are Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and South Africa.

Professor Gabriel Leung, a government coronavirus adviser and dean of HKU’s faculty of medicine. Photo: Dickson Lee