The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (March 25) arranged the second batch of chartered flights to bring back Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei Province to Hong Kong. The first two chartered flights successfully brought back 281 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 oversee the mission, and took the second chartered flight back to Hong Kong. Members of the Hong Kong team include 47 staff members from the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, the Immigration Department, the Department of Health (DH), the Information Services Department and the Hospital Authority.

     Taking the first two chartered flights to Hong Kong include 238 Hong Kong people stranded in Xiaogan, Xianning and Huangshi in Hubei Province, as well as 43 people in other cities of Hubei Province who have urgent needs to return to Hong Kong, such as people suffering from serious illnesses or  are in urgent need for medical treatments, children who are sick, and students sitting for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examination. There were 13 people aged 60 or above, 74 aged 16 or below, and among them, 13 were children aged three or below, joining the flights today. Family members or relatives of four children joined the first chartered flight to Wuhan to accompany the children to return to Hong Kong.

     All Hong Kong residents taking the chartered flights back to Hong Kong have undergone health assessment by DH staff at an early stage to check whether they have developed symptoms such as fever. The Hubei Provincial Government also conducted verifications 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 four 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 disease.

     Upon the arrival of the chartered flights, DH staff briefed the returnees about the quarantine arrangements and checked their body temperature. They will undergo 14-day home quarantine in accordance with the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C).

     In view of the need for milk powder of some Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei Province, the HKSAR Government carried 48 cans of milk powder donated by the International Social Service, Hong Kong Branch in this batch of chartered flights for delivery to the families in need. 

     Starting from February 7, the HKSAR Government has also started delivering medicine to Hong Kong people currently in Hubei who need regular prescribed medication. Fifteen batches of medicine has been despatched to Wuhan for further distribution to 248 Hong Kong people. The despatch of the sixteenth batch of medicine is underway.

     The HKSAR team will depart for Wuhan tomorrow morning to bring back another batch of some 280 people to Hong Kong.

Ends/Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Issued at HKT 23:27

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