Pinay, Indian nabbed in HK over noncooperation with COVID-19 tracers

A Filipina and her Indian engineer boyfriend were arrested in Hong Kong for failing to be forthright with government COVID-19 contact tracers.

According to Vonne Aquino's report on "24 Oras Weekend," the Indian engineer arrived in Hong Kong from Dubai on March 19. He was immediately quarantined.

He ended his quarantine on April 8 after testing negative for the virus.

He then roamed around Hong Kong with his Filipina girlfriend.

On April 13, the foreigner and the Filipina attended a family gathering.

On April 15, the foreigner underwent COVID-19 testing because he was set to return to Dubai.

On April 17, the foreigner tested positive for the N501Y COVID-19 variant.

On April 18, the Filipina reported to a government facility as she was a close contact. She also tested positive for the same variant.

On the same day, the Filipina's brother, who was also a close contact of the Indian engineer, attended a birthday party with his three OFW friends.

On April 30, one of the three OFW visitors tested positive for the NF01Y COVID-19 variant. The OFW also infected the 10-month-old baby of his employer.

On May 5, the two other OFWs also tested positive for the same variant. On May 7, the Filipina's mother also tested positive.

These details, however, were not mentioned by the Indian engineer and the Filipina to Hong Kong authorities.

"So we don't know why they did not tell us but they might forget about the gathering or they deliberately hid the information from us," the Hong Kong Information Services Department said.

The Filipina and her boyfriend have yet to issue a statement on the matter. — Ma. Angelica Garcia/DVM, GMA News