Virus Travel Ban Keeps Thousands of Maids From Hong Kong Jobs (2)

Mimi Ysulat flew home to the Philippines for her mother’s funeral at the end of January. By the time she was ready to return to Hong Kong, where she’s worked as a maid and nanny for the past decade, she got another dose of bad news: in response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Philippine government had banned travel to the city, along with Macau and mainland China.

Now the 48-year-old Ysulat is stuck in the Philippines for the foreseeable future, along with thousands of migrant workers, mostly women, who make up Hong Kong’s domestic labor force. “Helpers,” as they’re called, are critical ...