The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (March 4) sent the first batch of chartered flights to Wuhan to bring back Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei Province to Hong Kong. The first batch of chartered flights landed in Hong Kong at around 5pm and 10pm respectively, and successfully brought back 244 Hong Kong residents in Hubei Province.

     The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, and the Director of Immigration, Mr Erick Tsang, led the Hong Kong team this morning to the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport to co-ordinate the mission, and took the second chartered flight back to Hong Kong. Members of the Hong Kong team include staff from the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, the Immigration Department, the Department of Health (DH) and the Hospital Authority.

     Taking the first two chartered flights to Hong Kong include 200 Hong Kong people stranded in Wuhan, including two Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education candidates, and 44 people in other parts of Hubei Province who have an urgent need to return to Hong Kong, including 13 pregnant women, and ten people suffering from serious illnesses or urgent cases in need for medical treatments in Hong Kong. To cater for operational needs, the Government deployed nine medical staff to board on the flights, including doctors and nurses in the obstetrics and gynaecology specialty.

     All people who were taking the chartered flights back to Hong Kong have undergone health assessment by the DH staff in an early stage to check whether they have developed symptoms such as fever. The Hubei Provincial Government also conducted verification to ascertain that all who were allowed to board the flight were not confirmed cases or suspected cases of COVID-19, and were not close contacts of confirmed patients. Before boarding, the people concerned had undergone multiple temperature checks at various checkpoints to ensure that they were not having fever, or developing abnormal vital signs, respiratory tract symptoms and other signs of infectious diseases, and they were also required to put on protective gears.

     Upon the arrival of the chartered flights, the DH staff briefed the returnees about the quarantine arrangements and checked their body temperature. They were then taken to the quarantine centre in Chun Yeung Estate by pre-arranged coaches to undergo 14 days of quarantine observation. Upon their arrival at the quarantine centre, they will also undergo laboratory test to ascertain whether they are infected with COVID-19 virus.

     The security and healthcare staff are on duty round-the-clock at the quarantine centre. Transport services for leaving and entering the centre will be provided to people under quarantine. Without written permission from a health officer, people under quarantine cannot leave the centre and will not move around in the community.

     The HKSAR team will depart for Wuhan tomorrow morning to bring back another batch of about 240 Hong Kong people home.

Ends/Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Issued at HKT 23:39

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