HONG KONG – Two special flights will be arranged to bring back home Hong Kong residents stranded in Nepal due to COVID-19 pandemic, the special administrative region’s government said Sunday. 

The special flights, carrying about 330 passengers, are tentatively scheduled to depart Kathmandu on Monday. 

The SAR’s Immigration Department has received requests for assistance from about 1,300 Hong Kong residents stranded in Nepal

Upon arrival in Hong Kong, the returnees will proceed to a temporary specimen collection center set up by Department of Health for compulsory COVID-19 testing. They will later be transferred to a quarantine center for a 14-day compulsory quarantine. 

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Asian country has imposed strict restrictions on all land and air traffic since late March, preventing Hong Kong residents from arranging flights to leave Nepal on their own. 

As at May 30, the Immigration Department of the HKSAR government received requests for assistance from about 1,300 Hong Kong residents stranded in Nepal. Most of them are currently located in Bagmati and Gandaki provinces in the central part of the country. 

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The HKSAR government said it would continue to liaise with the Consulate-General of Nepal in Hong Kong and the airlines to arrange other special flights to help stranded Hong Kong residents return home in batches.