Coronavirus: enough data not available to enlist Covid-19 as an occupational disease, Hong Kong labour minister says, as unionists accuse government of failing to protect workers
- Law Chi-kwong says most coronavirus cases in Hong Kong resulted from community infections rather than work
- But trade unionists say workers in various sectors are at high risk and can only be protected if Covid-19 is listed as an occupational disease
Hong Kong’s labour minister said on Sunday enough data was not available to support the listing of Covid-19 as an occupational disease, drawing criticism from unionists who accused the government of failing to protect workers facing high risks of infections.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong made the remarks on his blog on Sunday, when four unions and 90 organisations urged the government to list Covid-19 as an occupational disease, saying there were more than 70 suspected work-related infections in the city.
Law said the government had been looking at the issue since late January and considered factors listed by the International Labour Organisation, including whether there was a causal relationship between the occupation and the disease and whether the risk of getting infected among any group of workers was higher than the general public.
When diseases transmit widely in the community, we cannot assume that medical staff are infected during work
“According to the criteria of the International Labour Organisation, we don’t have sufficient data,” Law said.
He said among 1,024 confirmed coronavirus cases in Hong Kong by Saturday, most cases resulted from community infections rather than work.
“Hong Kong has so far recorded one case of a medical employee who might have been infected during work, but the actual transmission channel has not been confirmed yet.
“When diseases transmit widely in the community, we cannot assume that medical staff are infected during work. This is an important factor to consider while listing an infectious disease as occupational disease,” he said.
