The SAR government announced on Monday it is arranging chartered fights to pick up Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei province — the epicenter of the novel coronavirus epidemic.
The government said that over 2,700 Hong Kong residents were still in Hubei. Eleven of them have contracted the disease, including a 77-year-old man who died.
It takes time to check whether they want to return to Hong Kong and to check whether they are well enough to be on the flights
Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs
The first batch of passengers is expected to be 450 Hong Kong residents in Wuhan, the provincial capital, Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Secretary Patrick Nip Tak-kuen told a news conference. The government did not offer a timetable for the plan.
In the first chartered flight, the government will also try to bring home those citizens who are elsewhere in the province and who have urgent medical conditions. This includes pregnant women and people in urgent need of medical treatment, as well as students who have to take upcoming graduation exams.
All passengers must take health checks before boarding the flights; those with any symptoms will not be allowed to leave. When these passengers come back, they will be sent to designated quarantine centers for 14 days.
Explaining why the government chose not to evacuate all stranded residents at once, Nip said it takes time to check whether they want to return to Hong Kong and to check whether they are well enough to be on the flights.
Due to transport restrictions in Hubei, the provincial government also agreed that sending chartered flights is the most feasible way to pick up stranded Hong Kong residents, Nip explained.
Lawmakers in the city welcomed the government’s new arrangements.
Priscilla Leung Mei-fun suggested the government deploy more personnel to meet stranded residents’ needs while they remain in Hubei.
Another lawmaker, Elizabeth Quat Pui-fan, said four stranded pregnant women told her they were happy the government will bring them home. They said hope it happens soon, she added.
So far, Hubei has reported more than 64,000 infection cases of the novel coronavirus — the majority of the Chinese mainland’s over 77,000 cases.
The government has previously sent chartered flights to pick up 193 Hong Kong residents evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship moored in Japan.
