No Deliberate Policy To Split Covid-hit Families: CE
"); jQuery("#212 h3").html("

"); jQuery(document).ready(function() { jwplayer.key='EKOtdBrvhiKxeOU807UIF56TaHWapYjKnFiG7ipl3gw='; var playerInstance = jwplayer("jquery_jwplayer_1"); playerInstance.setup({ file: "https://newsstatic.rthk.hk/audios/mfile_1580828_1_20210316174542.mp3", skin: { url: location.href.split('/', 4).join('/') + '/jwplayer/skin/rthk/five.css', name: 'five' }, hlshtml: true, width: "100%", height: 30, wmode: 'transparent', primary: navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Trident")>-1 ? "flash" : "html5", events: { onPlay: function(event) { dcsMultiTrack('DCS.dcsuri', 'https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1580828-20210316.mp3', 'WT.ti', ' Audio at newsfeed', 'WT.cg_n', '#rthknews', 'WT.cg_s', 'Multimedia','WT.es','https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1580828-20210316.htm', 'DCS.dcsqry', '' ); } } }); }); });
2021-03-16 HKT 12:05
Chief Executive Carrie Lam has downplayed concerns that babies and young children are being separated from their families and put into quarantine if their parents are taken into hospital with coronavirus, saying this is not a deliberate policy and exceptions to the rules are made.
Lam said on Tuesday that in such circumstances, the government allows children to stay in the hospital with their parents.
“We are a compassionate government, so we have been applying this exceptional treatment, where the close contacts are young children of the parents and the parents are confirmed, instead of sending the very young kids on their own to a quarantine centre, or asking other relatives and friends to go into the quarantine centre with the kids, we will exceptionally accept the admission of the children into the hospital as well,” Lam said.
“And of course within the hospital there would be appropriate arrangement for the parents and the kids,” she added.
Lam made the remarks after thousands signed a petition urging the government to let children be isolated at home instead of at a quarantine centre if any of their close contacts are infected with Covid.
The CE noted that two workers at the US Consulate tested positive for the virus this week and said their children are in hospital with them.
“In this case, we are applying that exceptional treatment. Not exceptional because they are US Consulate staff, but exceptional because of the family circumstances,” Lam said.
She added that she was notified that one of the children has also now tested positive.
“We have no policy to deliberately separate children from their parents, but public health concerns have to be respected because it is good for the community at large,” she added.
StartmeupHK Festival And Hong Kong Fintech Week 2025 Merge For 10th Anniversary Milestone
Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) announced on 10 March 2025 that both of its flagship events, Hong Kong Fintech Week 2025 an... Read more
Ant AI-Powered Health Insurance Processes 7.25M Claims In 2024, 55%YoY Increase
In 2024, Ant Insurance, the online insurance brokerage platform of Ant Group, processed 7.25 million health claims, mar... Read more
Ping An Talent Uses AI For Job Matching, But Can Technology Make Recruitment Fairer?
Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. has launched its 2025 Spring Campus Recruitment, offering over 2,000 p... Read more
HKEX Partners With CMU OmniClear To Boost Post-Trade Securities Infrastructure
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) announced on 4 March 2025 that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding ... Read more
PAObank Secures Insurance Agency Licence, Partners With Ping An And FWD Hong Kong
PAO Bank Limited (PAObank) has received its Insurance Agency Licence from the Insurance Authority and signed strategic ... Read more
IFAST Launches Self-Service Accounts For Hong Kong Family Offices
Fintech solutions provider iFAST HK launches self-service accounts in Hong Kong, catering to the growing demand for ind... Read more