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Chris Lau

Hong Kong will fly back the first batch of more than 5,000 residents stuck in Pakistan and India on Thursday, and quarantine them at government facilities, as it celebrates a four-day streak of no new Covid-19 infections.
For the sixth time in 10 days, the city on Wednesday recorded no increase in the number of cases, its tally standing still at 1,037. Nineteen more patients, meanwhile, were discharged.
But the Centre of Health Protection was investigating a confirmed overseas infection, according to a spokesman.
It concerned a 32-year-old man who tested positive in Britain, before taking Cathay Pacfic flight CX252 to return to Hong Kong on April 28.
Scientists to identify Hong Kong’s ‘invisible’ coronavirus carriers
The Hong Kong resident developed a fever on March 20 and was admitted to hospital for treatment between April 10 and 11 in the UK.
Upon arrival in Hong Kong, he was transferred immediately to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan, after declaring his previous illness. He was in a stable condition.
Cathay said through a spokesman that it was “following the health authorities’ prescribed procedures in conducting disinfection of the aircraft”, as well as informing staff and and customers who may have come into contact with the infected passenger. It did not reveal how many employees and passengers would be affected or required to go into quarantine.
About 300 Hong Kong residents stranded in Pakistan were scheduled to take a chartered flight back home on Thursday, a spokesman for the Security Bureau said, each passenger covering the HK$6,000 (US$775) cost of their flight.
The Immigration Department earlier revealed 3,200 residents stranded in all parts of India had reached out to them, while another 2,000 were stuck in Pakistan.


A Department of Health spokesman said all returnees from Pakistan would have to quarantine at Chun Yeung Estate, a public housing site turned isolation facility in Fo Tan. A source familiar with the arrangements said that would also apply to any returnees from India.
As of Wednesday morning, only 39 of the 1,398 units at the estate were occupied.
Thursday’s returnees included people stranded in the Pakistani capital Islamabad and its surrounding areas, as well as those with illnesses and pregnant women. They are the first batch to be repatriated among the 1,600 people caught in lockdown there who Hong Kong immigration officers have managed to contact.
Upon arrival, the 300 will have their saliva tested for Covid-19 at AsiaWorld-Expo, near the airport. They will then be transferred to Chun Yeung Estate, where they will spend 14 days in isolation.


The Security Bureau spokesman said the government had to adopt a phased approach to the repatriations, “due to the large number of people requesting assistance and having regard to the quarantine arrangements for the returnees and the capacities for testing and the quarantine and treatment facilities”.
No immigration officers will fly to Pakistan to offer assistance, the Post has learned, unlike in previous missions during which officers were deployed to help those stranded in Japan and mainland China, and no preliminary health checks will be performed before the travellers board.
Zain Ali, an 18-year-old student who was expected to board the flight, said he expected life would remain difficult. A candidate of this year’s Diploma of Secondary Education exams, the 14-day quarantine meant he would still miss out on the university entrance test.
A total of 34 candidates did not complete the English-language exam on Wednesday, with 26 absent due to health concerns and eight others leaving prematurely after feeling unwell.
A flight carrying about 170 Hong Kong residents who made their own arrangements to return from Pakistan via Doha landed on Wednesday afternoon. The bureau said the travellers would be subject to the same quarantine requirements as the others.
In addition, the Security Bureau spokesman said, the Immigration Department had recently contacted 3,100 of the Hong Kong residents stranded in India and was arranging their return.
But a source familiar with the arrangements said chartered rescue flights from India would not be arranged this week.
Mohan Chugani, president of the India Association Hong Kong, said the rescue mission there was trickier because of a much more stringent lockdown than Pakistan’s, with each state and territory imposing their own rules.
He has also advised the government to opt for isolation at quarantine centres as opposed to home quarantine, so that those returning would not risk being accused of bringing back the virus.
Additional reporting by Gary Cheung

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News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Coronavirus

Greater China


City records no new infections, for sixth time in 10 days
Case total stands at 1,037, as government-chartered flight prepares to bring home Hongkongers stuck in Pakistan



City records no new infections for sixth time in 10 days, as government-chartered flight prepares to bring home Hongkongers stuck in Pakistan.


Coronavirus: Another day of no new Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong, as city plans rescue flight for residents stranded in Pakistan lockdown

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} City records no new infections, for sixth time in 10 days Case total stands at 1,037, as government-chartered flight prepares to bring home Hongkongers stuck in Pakistan

City records no new infections, for sixth time in 10 days

Case total stands at 1,037, as government-chartered flight prepares to bring home Hongkongers stuck in Pakistan