New Covid-19 quarantine rules for domestic helpers leave Hong Kong employers scrambling to find cheaper hotel rooms
- Unwilling to pay peak prices for hotel rooms, some employers delay arrival of foreign helpers
- Agents, employers want more affordable hotels added to designated quarantine facilities
Employers of foreign domestic workers are unhappy with the prices they have to pay for hotel rooms, after the government announced a scheme requiring helpers to spend 14 nights in quarantine when they arrive in Hong Kong.
With thousands expected to come into the city this month and next, employers and agents said low-priced rooms were scarce among the designated hotels, urging the government to include more with “affordable rates”.
Rooms in the 36 hotels designated as quarantine facilities start at about HK$400 a night, with average prices between HK$500 and HK$1,000. Only seven have rooms below HK$500 a night.
Of the 12,132 regular rooms and suites available for quarantine, only 1,553 are going for less than HK$500 a night.
Under the scheme, which was announced last week and starts officially on December 22, employers will pay for their helpers’ 14-day quarantine, during which the new arrivals undergo two Covid-19 tests.
Those who test negative can move into their employers’ homes, but must undergo a third test after five days – on the 19th day of their arrival in Hong Kong – and wait for the result.
Some employers unwilling to pay current hotel rates have delayed bringing in their workers. Others are uncomfortable at having the helpers live with their families before the outcome of the third Covid-19 test is known.