Labour chief: $5k COVID-19 subsidy only for workers with no paid sick leave

Labour and Welfare Secretary Law Chi-kwong. (Information Services Department)

The HK$5,000 subsidy for local COVID-19 infections will only be given to workers who do not have paid sick leaves, Labour and Welfare Secretary Dr. Law Chi-kwong clarified Monday.

Law said those confirmed to have COVID-19 from Nov. 22 onwards may start applying for the subsidy through the social workers in the hospitals by Friday.

“If they suffer any loss of income during hospitalisation—that is those who are paid by the day—then we will offer them a one-off HK$5,000 compassionate allowance,” Law told reporters.

Law said the programme aims to convince those who are hesitant to find out their COVID-19 status because a positive result may have an effect on their livelihood—with quarantine or treatment stopping them from earning daily wages.

The labour and welfare chief added there will be no means test, despite concern that the system might be abused by some citizens.

“The strictest way is to do a means test, but then you understand that doing a means test will prolong the application process. It can be hard for the applicants, too, because they may have to provide such a lot of information before the application is approved, and they are already suffering from COVID-19,” Law said.

While Law said he does not expect high-income people to apply, the Social Welfare Department handling the subsidy distribution will also conduct random checks on cases.

The Social Welfare Department will base local and imported cases on the daily reports from the Centre for Health Protection,  according to Law. This means newly-arrived domestic workers will not be covered by the programme since they fall under imported cases.

The subsidy programme is the government’s latest move to combat a recent surge in COVID-19 infections, recording 73 new infections on Monday compared to four infections detected six days ago.