Coronavirus: Hongkongers still trapped in epidemic epicentre Hubei province plead with government to bring them home
- Some have lost their jobs, others have elderly relatives or children in Hong Kong to worry about, while parents have trouble getting baby milk formula in hard-hit province
- Hong Kong government’s two-day rescue operation last week brought 469 residents home on four flights from Hubei
Their call on Monday came after the Hong Kong government’s two-day rescue operation last week brought 469 residents home on four flights. There is no concrete plan on when and how to evacuate the remaining 3,000 Hongkongers stranded in Hubei province.
In a press briefing organised by the Federation of Trade Unions in Hong Kong, several stranded residents told of their misery through video conferencing.
Among them were a couple who both lost their jobs in Hong Kong after being stuck for two months in Jingzhou, a city in southern Hubei. The husband, a construction worker surnamed Chow, said: “My boss told me that he didn’t need me at work as I could not get back in early February and had no return date.”
Chow said his wife, a waitress, was also fired while being stranded. He said they needed to return home as soon as possible to look for work and take care of their 17-year-old daughter who now lives alone.
Another man, surnamed Tong, said he travelled to Xiangyang, a city in northwestern Hubei on January 17 with his wife and two-year-old twin son and daughter, and they were trapped since the province went into lockdown.
Tong urged the government to act swiftly to bring them home, as the twins were running out of baby milk formula and food.