‘120 mainland carers hired to look after elderly’

Labour Secretary Law Chi-kwong said on Sunday that the government has so far hired around 120 temporary carers from the mainland to look after the elderly amid the latest outbreak.

The minister announced late last month that the government was hiring 1,000 temporary workers from the mainland to take care of elderly Covid patients at its isolation and treatment facilities.

Speaking in an interview with Xinhua, Law said the new hires are undergoing three days of training and will report for duty soon.

But he said the city is still short of around 1,000 to 2,000 workers to take care of infected elderly with mild or no symptoms at holding centres, while an extra 2,000 to 3,000 workers are needed at elderly care homes.

Law said he believes the manpower shortage will continue for a period of time despite the government’s recent measure to provide more subsidies for carers.

He also said authorities will continue to find suitable hotels or care homes to serve as temporary residences for caretakers, adding that some of them have already started moving into designated hotels.

Meanwhile, civil service chief Patrick Nip said an NGO and a medical association will team up to provide vaccination services for disabled and elderly people who live alone.

Nip, who leads the city’s vaccination programme, said he’s happy to know that the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and the Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong will launch the initiative, adding that officials will see whether the arrangement can be further expanded.

He said authorities aim to provide on-site vaccination services for all care homes in the city by Friday, and similar vaccination drives will be launched later to allow the elderly to get their second and third Covid doses.