Pictured is the US consulate in Hong Kong. Two employees of the consulate have tested positive for COVID-19 but refused to be quarantined, Hong Kong media reported Monday. The consulate has been closed for thorough disinfection. Photo: cnsphoto

Two employees of the US Consulate General in Hong Kong who tested positive for COVID-19 have been hospitalized and one of their daughters is suspected of being infected, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday. 

Lam said at a press conference that the two employees, who are a couple, have been sent to hospital for treatment. As the couple has two daughters, the Hong Kong government allowed them both to follow their parents to hospital for quarantine. 

One of the daughters is suspected of being infected with COVID-19, Lam said. 

Lam stressed that Hong Kong SAR government has not adopted any policy that forces the separation of confirmed cases from their relatives.

The Hong Kong health department will test all staff and visitors to the US Consulate General, as the Consulate was made a compulsory COVID-19 testing venue under epidemic prevention rules. The consulate is now closed for disinfection.  

Local media Dot Dot News reported on Monday the two employees from the Consulate had refused to accept quarantine arrangements citing diplomatic immunity. The US consulate denied the claim, calling some reports about the two cases "false" and were a "disinformation campaign."

The consulate cited a statement of the SAR government that said: "The US Consulate General in Hong Kong has been fully co-operative with the Government on all the above action items to combat COVID-19."

Diplomats enjoy certain diplomatic immunities but this does not include the privilege of breaking Chinese laws and regulations, and not complying with epidemic prevention measures during a public health crisis, He Zhipeng, a professor of international human rights and legal education at Jilin University in Northeast China, said.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states that a diplomatic agent shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction, civil and administrative jurisdiction of the receiving State, but that doesn't mean they should be disrespectful of local regulations, said Chen Xinxin, a research fellow at the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 

"Using diplomatic immunity as excuse to refuse taking quarantine is hardly justifiable from a legal or moral aspect," He told the Global Times.

On Tuesday, the Hong Kong SAR government announced the residents of three office complexes and eight buildings would get tested for COVID-19 by Wednesday, including the US Consulate General, according to the SAR government. 

People within the specified restricted area were required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing on Tuesday, and those who had been to the restricted area in the past 14 days will have to receive tests before Wednesday. 

Persons subject to compulsory testing were required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the area had undergone testing and the test results were mostly ascertained, the government said.