Coronavirus: British, Australian consulates in Hong Kong raise ‘serious concern’ over separation of parents and babies who test positive
- British Consul General Brian Davidson says he has challenged local authorities ‘about how unacceptable and damaging it is to separate infants from parents’
- Australian consulate has received messages over past few days from anxious parents worried about being separated from their children
The British and Australian consulates in Hong Kong have issued strongly worded statements to local authorities over concerns that parents would be separated from infants who tested positive for the coronavirus.
The statement followed news on Tuesday that a British mother, who asked to be identified only by her first name Laura, was separated from her 11-month-old baby girl, who was admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19.
Despite the mother’s pleas, Laura said she was told to leave Queen Mary Hospital or the police would be called. Although the baby was in stable condition, the child was required to remain at the hospital for at least seven days, as required under the health policy for Covid-19 patients.
On Thursday, the mother told the Post that the family had been reunited that afternoon and were staying in Penny’s Bay quarantine camp.
“[I’m] just so grateful she is healthy and well,” Laura said.
British Consul General Brian Davidson said in a video on Facebook that he knew parents were particularly worried, as the city fights its fifth wave of infections.
“My team and I have raised serious concerns over this issue and have robustly challenged the local authorities of the highest level about how unacceptable and damaging it is to separate infants from parents,” he said.
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The Hospital Authority said under the current policy, staff would arrange for a parent and child who tested positive to stay in the same ward, so long as the situation allowed.
But if parents tested negative, the authority said it was not advised for parents and child to remain together because of limited space at isolation facilities and maintaining infection control measures.
An official said in a press briefing that video calls could also be arranged several times a day.
“Over the past two years we have repeatedly raised with the Hong Kong authorities that the issue of children being separated from parents, either through hospitalisation or quarantine, is a major concern to the British community in this city,” Davidson said.
The consulate had supported a number of families in these situations, with Davidson adding that authorities had been “responsive.”
Meanwhile, Australian Consul General Elizabeth Ward said she wanted to reach out to Australians in Hong Kong at a “worrying and stressful time”.
Ward said the consulate had received numerous messages over the past few days from anxious parents worried about being separated from their children, in the event they were infected.
“I want to let you know we take this issue extremely seriously and have spoken on numerous occasions to the Hong Kong government about this and will continue to do so,” Ward said in a Facebook video.
Ward added that she knew “a number of you are planning to be on the move”, and that the consulate was monitoring the availability of flights “closely” and speaking to airlines on behalf of Australian citizens.
The news of potentially being separated from children has prompted an outcry among parents, with one Facebook group for people considering leaving Hong Kong swelling to more than 2,000 members since it was created on Tuesday.
Other families were already rushing to leave Hong Kong, according to Angelyn Lim, director of services at Asian Charity Services.
Lim said she knew at least two women with young children who worked in different NGOs with two more contemplating a move out of the city for at least a few months.
With social services already under severe stress during the coronavirus outbreak, she said the departures would affect the operations and service delivery of already short-staffed NGOs.
“There’s a lot of need right now in the social sector, and NGO teams are already extremely stretched. A reduction in NGO team numbers means that, ultimately, and unfortunately, the vulnerable communities served by the NGOs will be the ones to suffer,” Lim said.
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However, international flights have plummeted amid an aviation ban on nine countries, and the suspension of airlines found to be carrying Covid-19 positive passengers.
Hong Kong extended its flight bans on nine countries, including Australia, Britain and the United States, to April 20.
Davidson also noted that the British community was concerned about “the city’s continued isolation from the United Kingdom”.
“There is no easy solution to this but we will continue to press those issues of concern to all of us living in Hong Kong,” he said.
Three children have died in the past fortnight after becoming infected with Covid-19. The third victim, an 11-month-old girl, is Hong Kong’s youngest coronavirus-related fatality.
Last March the government released guidelines from the Hospital Authority stating that if parents also tested positive with their children, public hospitals would consider placing them in the same isolation room.
In the case that a parent tested negative, the authority had said medical staff would also “accommodate their request to accompany the paediatric patient”.
