Pilot domestic helper program aims at testing automated system

The pilot program to allow the entry of Philippine domestic workers merely tests Macau’s capability amid the current pandemic, public health doctor Leong Iek Hou of the Macau government said yesterday.

The medical practitioner, who is also division head for prevention and control of infectious diseases at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), made the remark at the weekly health press briefing yesterday afternoon.

She was questioned about the existence of a meltdown mechanism to automatically suspend the pilot program.

The pilot program was announced last week to facilitate local residents’ applications for domestic workers from outside of Greater China. The first partner location is the Philippines.

In response to the question, Leong said that the program aims at testing the automated application platform, which could likely shortlist eligible applications without human support or intervention.

It will additionally be used to test whether allowing non-resident entrants would pose intensified risks to the city, such as a soaring number of cases of Covid-19 . The pilot program will also gauge whether a meltdown mechanism would be required in the program itself.

Leong said that many parties are involved in the pilot program – equating to a large amount of correspondence – so more time is required to finalize information and details.

She added that the document stating the information related to filing an application was uploaded to the government’s Covid-19 website as the press conference was in progress.

She insisted that, for the time being, the government was still aiming for April 25, the coming Monday, as the launch date for the pilot program’s application process.

Details seemed not to be fully finalized as of yesterday. The panel of officials was asked whether there would be a specific quarantine hotel for entrants through this pilot program, to which Lau Fong Chi, department head for communications and external relations of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), which is responsible for negotiations with hotels, said that discussions would be made with partner government entities and hotels to identify which hotels would be appropriate.

The panel of officials was later challenged by a journalist who, citing the application document, said that the government requires all entrants through the pilot program to stay in “(a) designated hotel(s)”.

The journalist questioned the tourism official as to whether the Treasure Hotel is the designated hotel, as it is now hosting returnees from outside Greater China.

Leong clarified that the term “(a) designated hotel(s)” is used to refer to any hotel properties permitted by the Health Bureau (SSM) to be used to host entrants through the pilot program, suggesting that it does not refer to any single hotel.

According to the government’s announcement last week, the applicants for Philippine domestic workers will be expected to bear the cost for the quarantine hotel stay and, if they test positive for SARS-CoV-2, medical services.

The government has not yet made up its mind on how long the Philippine entrants will be required to stay in quarantine, as Lau said the costs for quarantine hotel will depend on how long the SSM will require them to stay.

Vaccination needed for 

DSEDJ summer activities

Luís Gomes, acting department head for non-tertiary education at the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ), announced to the press briefing that, from July this year, all participants in the government Summer Activities program and workshops held at DSEDJ’s activity centers will have to be fully vaccinated, be that two or three doses.

If participants are not fully vaccinated, they must present a SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test result valid for within the previous seven days.

The requirement extends to accompanying individuals, such as parents.

Many younger children are escorted to these activities by their retired grandparents, who mostly come from the age groups with which the government is not satisfied in terms of vaccination rates.

Echoing the suggestion of Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Elsie Ao Ieong U, on mandatory vaccination for student sporting competitions, Gomes announced yesterday that the requirement would apply to applications for such competitions. Further information will be released in September.

Gomes hinted that the requirement would not likely cause trouble, as most students are now jabbed with at least one dose of the vaccine.