March 11, 2022
Various Hong Kong communities launched a campaign on Thursday to help those isolating at home due to COVID-19, with thousands of volunteers sending anti-pandemic supplies and providing assistance to 3,000 families across the city.
The campaign, dubbed “Together we fight the virus, we care — Home Isolation Aid”, was organized by the Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link and local organizations, including the Hong Kong Island Federation, the Kowloon Federation of Associations and the New Territories Association of Societies. The public can register through HKCACL social media accounts to seek help.
Tang Ching Ho, the chief convenor of the campaign, said that many residents on home quarantine, who gave up their right to move around freely for the greater good, are often in need of medical guidance, supplies and emotional support
“Today, the number of home-isolated people is still increasing… The program is launched to provide supplies to the home-bound isolated residents, so that they can rest assured to fight the virus,” Bunny Chan Chung-bun, the chief convenor of HKCACL, said at the launching ceremony on Thursday.
Chan said he believes that the city, backed by timely assistance from the central government and with the concerted efforts of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and communities, will triumph in its battle against the pandemic.
Tang Ching Ho, the chief convenor of the campaign, said that many residents on home quarantine, who gave up their right to move around freely for the greater good, are often in need of medical guidance, supplies and emotional support.
Since the start of the fifth wave of the COVID-19 infections, HKCACL has received 90,764 requests for assistance and was able to help 87,673 residents, Tang said.
The group also delivered more than 91,535 bags of supplies, benefiting more than 280,000 people, he added.
He said that 4,000 HKCACL volunteers have dedicated themselves to helping those in need without fear while asking nothing in return, prodding other members of society to contribute through their own means.
Speaking at the same occasion, the Acting Secretary for Home Affairs Jack Chan Jick-chi said the campaign came at a vital moment in city’s efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, noting that a large people are self-isolating at home.
Echoing Chan’s remarks, Hong Kong Island Federation vice-director Chu Lap-wai said that it’s important to provide essential supplies to those isolated at home, many of whom were unprepared for quarantine, and urged more youngsters to volunteer for the group.
“We are setting up an online ‘request-to-help booking platform’, aiming to provide timely and accurate aid, so that residents can get the help they need while staying at home,” said Ho Hon Man, vice-director of the Kowloon Federation of Associations.
HKCACL is a charity group founded in February 2020 that aims to provide people in need with anti-pandemic supplies and and other forms of assistance in Hong Kong.
The government launched the StayHomeSafe Scheme in February to ease the pressure on quarantine facilities, allowing close contacts of patients and secondary contacts – usually family members of close contacts – to self-isolate at home under certain circumstances.