HONG KONG - The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is proactively taking actions to liaise with relevant mainland authorities to discuss on how to bring back Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei province in an orderly manner, said a government spokesperson on Sunday.

The government attaches great importance to the situation of Hong Kong people in Hubei, and fully understands why they are keen to return to Hong Kong as soon as possible, the spokesperson said.

The HKSAR Government is determined to overcome all difficulties with the aim of bringing back the Hong Kong people stranded in Hubei ...

Spokesperson for the HKSAR government

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"As of this morning, the HKSAR Government has received more than 1 400 cases of requests for assistance in Hubei, involving over 2 700 Hong Kong people scattering over more than 37 cities of various sizes in the province. The Wuhan Economic and Trade Office of the HKSAR (Wuhan ETO) has been keeping close contact with the assistance seekers and making its utmost effort in providing them with suitable and practicable assistance, such as helping with their medical and daily needs.

"The Wuhan ETO also contacted three pregnant women, whose expected dates of delivery are in the next two months, to learn about their situation and health conditions, as well as offer them practicable advice. They are currently staying in the cities of Xiaogan, Yingcheng and Qianjiang respectively. The Wuhan ETO has contacted the foreign affairs offices of the three cities and requested them to provide assistance to and take care of the pregnant women. The Wuhan ETO will continue to strengthen communication with those groups of Hong Kong people with special needs with a view to providing them with practicable assistance.

"On the assistance cases received by other members of the community, we welcome transferrals of these cases so that we could follow up immediately," the spokesperson was quoted as saying in a government press release.

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"The HKSAR Government is determined to overcome all difficulties with the aim of bringing back the Hong Kong people stranded in Hubei. At the same time, there is a need for all relevant parties to come together to draw up a sound and safe plan in order to reduce the public health risks to a minimum. We will lose no time in liaising with various parties to finalise the plan as soon as possible," stressed the spokesperson.

According to the spokesperson, a 77-year-old Hong Kong man passed away in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, from the COVID-19 caused by a novel coronavirus. Ten Hong Kong people from three families in Hubei were infected by COVID-19, nine were treated in local hospitals and one had been discharged.

With Xinhua inputs