Coronavirus: use cruise ship, Disneyland hotels to quarantine Hongkongers stranded in Hubei, lawmakers say
- Government urged to lay on chartered flights for Hong Kong residents stuck in epicentre of outbreak
- Lawmaker approaches cruise line about renting ship now stranded in harbour
Hongkongers stranded in Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, should be brought back to the city and quarantined on a cruise ship or at Disneyland hotels to minimise resistance in the community, lawmakers suggested on Thursday.
Legislators from across the political spectrum floated the idea a day after the Hong Kong government revealed 10 city residents stranded in the central Chinese province had been infected with the virus, which causes the disease now officially known as Covid-19.
More than 2,000 Hongkongers are estimated to be stranded in the province, many of them desperate to return home.
Pro-establishment lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun called on the government to arrange chartered flights to bring them back, for quarantine on a ship.
“That should be far away enough from any residents,” he said. “Even if you are to put them in Disneyland, Tung Chung District Council is going to oppose it. Everyone is opposing for the sake of opposing these days.
“The government should not be looking for the most ideal quarantine location, but somewhere with the least public resistance.”