Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (2nd right) speaks to the media ahead of an Executive Council meeting in Hong Kong, March 3, 2020. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has chartered four flights to bring back 533 residents stranded in the mainland province of Hubei, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Tuesday.

The flights will return on Wednesday and Thursday and the passengers will be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival.

Lam said the flights will pick up 440 Hong Kong people from Hubei’s capital Wuhan and another 93 from 10 different Hubei cities

Speaking to reporters before the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lam said the flights will pick up 440 Hong Kong people from Hubei’s capital Wuhan and another 93 from 10 different Hubei cities. 

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All evacuees will be checked for body temperature before boarding and upon arrival in HK and will be taken to Chun Yeung Estate for a 14-day mandatory quarantine. 

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, who met the press with Lam, said two flights will be sent Wednesday and will return the same day. 

According to Nip, among those slated to be evacuated are 14 pregnant women, 11 DSE candidates and 22 people who require urgent medical attention in Hong Kong. 

Also at the briefing, Food and Health Secretary Sophia Chan Siu-chee said at least two doctors and two nurses will be on each chartered flight. 

READ MORE: Govt 'proactively' working on bringing back residents in Hubei

More than 3,000 Hong Kong people are currently in Hubei, including about 532 in Wuhan.

According to Nip, all passengers are required to be in masks and protective gear provided by the government during the flight. He said the passengers will be seated a pre-determined distance apart and no one will be allowed to change seats at will.

Nip said all passengers will have their temperature checked five times during the trip, and will be tested for the novel coronavirus after moving into the quarantine center in Hong Kong.

Speaking at the same press conference, Lam said the city’s epidemic situation was generally within control. Hong Kong has so far recorded 100 infections. 

But she urged people to remain vigilant, considering the global spread of the epidemic. Lam emphasized that besides preventing local transmission, another priority for her government now was to prevent infections imported from overseas.

In a press briefing in the afternoon,  Linda Yu Wai-ling, Hospital Authority’s chief manager on clinical effectiveness and technology management, said nine of the over 200 Hong Kong people repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan were tested positive to the virus when they were quarantined in Chun Yeung Estate. 

Early and proactive virus tests were effective to identify asymptomatic patients and those showing light symptoms, Yu said. 

As of Tuesday, occupancy rate of the city’s total 954 isolation beds in public hospitals is 33.1 percent, Yu said, noting that the number of beds can be increased when necessary. 

As of 5:30 pm on Tuesday, Hong Kong's infection tally remained at 100 reported, with one suspected case still under monitoring. One more patient has been discharged from the hospital, bringing the total number to 37. Among those still hospitalized, two are in a critical condition. 

On Monday, the Macao government announced it was chartering flights to fly home Macao people stranded in Hubei. So far, 172 Macao citizens have sought assistance from the Macao government, and 47 of them said they would like to take the flights.