On 10 February 2020, the Hong Kong Labour Department issued a
press release clarifying the position on whether the coronavirus
amounts to an “occupational disease” within the meaning
of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (ECO).
What is the ECO?
The ECO provides a statutory compensation framework for
employees who sustain injuries or die at work, or accidents
relating to occupational disease. It requires all employers to take
out mandatory employees’ compensation insurance to cover the
cost of such claims.
The “occupational diseases” that are covered by the
ECO are set out in Schedule 2. This includes severe acute
respiratory syndrome (i.e. Sars) that caused the last pandemic in
2002/2003, but does not include the novel coronavirus (now
officially named as Covid-19).
