Coronavirus - Hong Kong Government Issues Guidance on Dealing with a confirmed CoVID-19 case in the Workplace - Hong Kong

• Hong Kong

• Coronavirus
• Employee benefits
• Employment law

17-08-2020

We frequently receive enquiries from employers on the steps to take if one of their employees has tested positive for CoVID-19. The Centre for Health Protection(“CHP”) has recently issued guidance to employers for handling such a situation.

Under the CHP’s new guidance, if an employer is aware that one of its employees has tested positive for CoVID-19 and has worked in the workplace during the incubation or infectious period, the employer should close the workplace and advise all employees who were present at the workplace in the past two weeks to stay home until the CHP provides further advice to the employer.

The employer should compile a list of employees who attended the workplace in the past two weeks, including their name, Hong Kong identity card number and telephone number, and pass the information to the CHP for contact tracing purposes. The CHP will usually require all close contacts of a confirmed case to go into quarantine. This includes those who were in contact with a confirmed case without a mask. Close contacts will receive a telephone call from the CHP advising them of the quarantine arrangements. This will usually involve mandatory quarantine at a quarantine centre. They should also wear a mask and avoid contact with any other person while they are waiting for the call from the CHP.

The employer should arrange for thorough environmental cleaning of the workplace as soon as possible after being made aware of a confirmed case. The office should remain closed until the CHP confirms that it can be reopened.

For further details on the quarantine arrangements and guidelines on environmental cleaning, you may refer to the CHP’s latest guidance here: https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/pdf/workplace_en.pdf