In this file photo, a women who was among the first batch of people evacuated from Hubei province walks out of a bus while carrying her baby in Fo Tan district. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)
The Hong Kong government will send a second batch of chartered flights to Hubei province on March 24 earliest, said Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen on Monday.
The flights will also bring back 70 residents stranded in Wuhan who sought help after the first batch of flights chartered by the HK govt had already departed Wuhan in early March
The second batch of flights, which will land at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, will mainly pick up Hong Kong residents stranded in the cities of Xiaogan, Xianning and Huangshi, all two to three hours of bus ride away from Hubei’s capital Wuhan. According to Nip, 700 Hong Kong residents are currently spread across the three cities.
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The flights will also bring back 70 residents stranded in Wuhan who sought help after the first batch of flights chartered by the HK government had already departed Wuhan in early March. Those who desire to be on the flights need to call a HK government hotline or send emails by Tuesday evening, Nip said.
According to Nip, 3,400 Hong Kong residents are still spread across 37 cities of Hubei. In Hubei, 14 Hong Kong residents contracted COVID-19 caused by a novel coronavirus. Among them, one died, three remain in hospital and 10 have been discharged.
