Leung said that many participants in the project are seniors who live on their own or in an elderly household of two. Faced with the strains of the pandemic, they need company and attention even more than before. In October 2020, the Club launched the project under COVID-19 to specifically address their needs, providing them with medical escort assistance and daily necessities, as well as health support services and “care calls”.
Equally, care home residents need extra attention. In September 2020, the Club started a pilot programme to help 25 residential care homes for the elderly (“RCHEs”) buy equipment to enhance their safety and infection control. Three months later, the Club launched the Jockey Club Facilities Enhancement Scheme for Pandemic Preparedness at Residential Care Homes which offered a one-off subsidy to all RCHEs, residential care homes for persons with disabilities (“RCHDs”) and nursing homes (“NHs”) subvented by the Social Welfare Department. The fresh subsidy has been used to buy equipment such as air purifiers, disinfection machines, UV disinfection machines and temperature detectors. Together with the pilot programme, the Club’s funding for the scheme totals HK$243 million. In response to the current fifth wave of COVID-19 outbreaks, the scheme has been swiftly expanded, enabling RCHEs, NHs and RCHDs with coronavirus patients to buy high-efficiency air purifiers and HEPA filters.
