Too confusing, too much trouble: Hong Kong restaurants despair over checking vaccine status of recovered Covid-19 patients
- Catering industry says having uniform proof of vaccine exemption will help reduce misunderstandings
- Recovered patients say it is hard to obtain proof that they were ill and exempted from vaccination
Hong Kong restaurants are tired of the confusion over checking the vaccination status of customers trying to enter their premises, especially those who have recovered from Covid-19.
With numerous types of electronic and paper documents available to show individuals’ vaccination status or proof of recovery, misunderstandings between restaurant workers and customers have become a regular occurrence.
“It is very messy now. Frontline workers are confused over the different kinds of information and documents they can accept, and sometimes the checking process can get complicated or descend into arguments,” said Simon Wong Ka-wo, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades.
The industry has called on the government to simplify the vaccine pass process, suggesting a uniform proof of exemption for those who have recovered from Covid-19 but have not yet been inoculated.
Some recovered patients have complained about being denied entry at restaurants and other premises requiring a vaccine pass, while others said even obtaining proof that they had Covid-19 was a chaotic process.
Currently, those entering 23 types of premises including restaurants and supermarkets must have had at least one dose of a vaccine. By April 30, they need to have two doses, and by May 31, three.
Those who have recovered from Covid-19 must produce documents to show they were infected and how long they were exempted from the vaccine shots. Those who are unvaccinated can get their first jab six months after recovery, while people who received one jab before falling ill can get their second dose six months after recovering.
Recovered patients can use at least five types of documents: discharge letters, isolation orders, paper or electronic records of Covid-19 test results from approved sources, completed declarations on the government’s rapid antigen test reporting system, or other recovery proof issued by the Hospital Authority.
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That was all too much for Zoe Lau, 21, a waitress at a cafe in Mong Kok.
She said about 10 customers produced paper documents as proof of exemption each day, but she only accepted a doctor’s certificate, as there was no way for her to verify the others.
“I’m not taking a risk that could lead to the restaurant being fined. If I don’t understand the document, I’m not letting them in,” she said.
Kit Woo, 28, a waiter at a ramen restaurant in Mong Kok, said three or four customers turned up each day claiming they were exempted from vaccination.
He said he would scan their documents just to find the word “exemption” and did not read the details.
A 45-year-old customer complained that he had been turned away multiple times by restaurants despite having a medical exemption certificate.
“I’ve had to argue with restaurant staff to gain entry,” he told the Post. “Some relented, but others stood firm and I had to take my complaint to the restaurant managers.”
Amy, a 30-year-old unvaccinated recovered patient, said she ended up eating at home or in a park after chain restaurants in a shopping centre turned her away twice on the same day last week.
“One restaurant turned me down without any explanation when I showed them my isolation order, while the staff at another said they had to discuss my case with their manager,” the jobless woman said. “I just gave up and ate bread in a park.”
She said she had been avoiding shopping centres and restaurants since then, and only went to shops that did not require a vaccine pass.
“With the current policy, does it mean that people like me who’ve had Covid but aren’t vaccinated can’t enter malls for the next six months?” she asked.
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Other recovered patients complained about the difficulty in getting proof that they had been ill and were exempted from vaccination.
Michelle Tang Mei-suet, 27, a 3D designer who is unvaccinated, said she had not obtained her isolation order, despite receiving an SMS message on March 1 notifying her that she had tested positive for Covid-19.
Without proof that she had been infected, she said she was avoiding places requiring a vaccine pass.
Marketing manager Judy Tse Yan-kit, 39, said she obtained a doctor’s certification of exemption for herself and her six-year-old son through a government clinic, but her husband had not received any relevant documents since testing positive late last month.
“The strongest feeling I’ve had throughout this process is annoyance at how chaotic it has been,” she said.
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Meanwhile, a concern group also flagged problems faced by some domestic helpers in obtaining the necessary documents because they faced a language barrier.
The NGO Help for Domestic Workers said it anticipated problems for migrant workers in using the vaccine pass when travel rules eased next month, as some were already facing difficulty.
“What we see is that Indonesians who tested positive and can’t comprehend English and Chinese, are having difficulty reporting positive cases online and uploading documents, causing confusion and delay in their transfer to isolation facilities,” said Avril Rodrigues, the NGO’s head of communications.
Paul Zimmerman, a Southern district councillor, said he had received pleas for help from residents unable to obtain the vaccine pass as they did not register their past infection through the rapid antigen test reporting platform.
“They didn’t report because they didn’t want to risk being sent to quarantine facilities. Now that they are required to get the vaccine pass, many don’t know what to do as they have been locked out of the system,” he said.
“Many of these cases are families with kids. As schools reopen, people will need the vaccine pass to send their kids to school.”
