The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (March 26) arranged two more chartered flights to bring back 277 Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei Province to Hong Kong. Together with the 281 Hong Kong residents who took the chartered flights back yesterday (March 25), the HKSAR Government has brought back a total of 558 Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei Province in this second batch operation.

     On board the two chartered flights today are 104 Hong Kong people stranded in Xiaogan and 138 in Xianning, as well as 35 people in other cities such as Yichang, Shiyan and Enshi, etc. in Hubei Province, who have urgent needs to return to Hong Kong. Among them, there were pregnant women, people suffering from serious illnesses and a student sitting for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examination. 

     There were 10 people aged 60 or above, 66 aged 16 or below, and among them, 11 were children aged three or below, joining the flights today. A family member of a child joined the first chartered flight to Wuhan to accompany the child to return to Hong Kong.

     A total of 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 joined the operation today and took the second chartered flight back to Hong Kong.

     All people who were taking the chartered flights back to Hong Kong have undergone health assessment by staff of the DH at 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. All of them had to undergo temperature checks at different stops, i.e., before they departed their home, when they arrived at the airport in Wuhan, during the immigration process and before boarding the plane, so as to ensure that they were not having fever, or developing abnormal vital signs, respiratory tract symptoms and other signs of infectious diseases.

     After returning to Hong Kong, they were required to undergo temperature check again and started home quarantine for 14 days in accordance with the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C). 

     The second two-day mission of bringing back Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei Province has been concluded successfully. The HKSAR Government expressed gratitude to the care expressed by the Central Government and the support and co-operation by the Hubei Provincial Government and other municipal governments of the Province.

    The HKSAR Government also expressed gratitude to Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon for arranging the chartered flights and the meticulous arrangements by the cabin crew who took part in this mission. The Government also thanked all public officers who have planned and carried out this mission.

Ends/Thursday, March 26, 2020
Issued at HKT 22:32

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