2 former Cathay Pacific flight attendants convicted of breaching Hong Kong’s Covid quarantine rules while infected at start of fifth wave
- Pair’s actions late last year were thought to be the likely cause of the first Omicron cluster in city’s fifth wave of infections, its deadliest by far
- Carrier at the time came under fire and was accused of exploiting loophole, allowing staff on commercial flights to return on cargo ones and isolate at home
Eastern Court remanded Wong Yoon-loong and Nilsson Lau Kok-wang in custody pending next month’s sentencing, noting their offences were serious and warranted immediate imprisonment.
“You two have abused the rights and privileges given by the government [to be subject to] less stringent conditions [as] crew members of aircraft … [resulting] in infections of other people in Hong Kong,” Magistrate Edward Wong Ching-yu told the pair.
The ex-employees of the city’s flagship carrier were under medical surveillance for three weeks after they returned from the United States for the 2021 Christmas holidays.
The court heard they were told to stay at home until they cleared Covid-19 tests on the third day of arrival. The only exceptions were to carry out “necessary activities”, such as going to test centres.
But the defendants allegedly left their homes for non-essential activities while infected with the highly transmissible Omicron variant.