In response to media enquiries, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (February 23) that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government is liaising with the relevant Mainland authorities to discuss the issue relating to the return of Hong Kong people stranded in Hubei in an orderly manner.
The spokesman said, "The HKSAR Government attaches great importance to the situation of Hong Kong people in Hubei Province, and fully understands why they are keen to return to Hong Kong as soon as possible. We have all along been actively engaging relevant government departments and public health experts to map out a practicable action plan. At the same time, we are also communicating with the relevant departments in the Mainland with a view to bringing back, in batches and as soon as possible, Hong Kong people stranded in Hubei, including various groups with special needs.
"As of this morning, the HKSAR Government has received more than 1 400 cases of requests for assistance in Hubei, involving over 2 700 Hong Kong people scattering over more than 37 cities of various sizes in the province. The Wuhan Economic and Trade Office of the HKSAR (Wuhan ETO) has been keeping close contact with the assistance seekers and making its utmost effort in providing them with suitable and practicable assistance, such as helping with their medical and daily needs.
"The Wuhan ETO also contacted three pregnant women, whose expected dates of delivery are in the next two months, to learn about their situation and health conditions, as well as offer them practicable advice. They are currently staying in the cities of Xiaogan, Yingcheng and Qianjiang respectively. The Wuhan ETO has contacted the foreign affairs offices of the three cities and requested them to provide assistance to and take care of the pregnant women. The Wuhan ETO will continue to strengthen communication with those groups of Hong Kong people with special needs with a view to providing them with practicable assistance.
"On the assistance cases received by other members of the community, we welcome transferrals of these cases so that we could follow up immediately."
The spokesperson stressed, "The HKSAR Government is determined to overcome all difficulties with the aim of bringing back the Hong Kong people stranded in Hubei. At the same time, there is a need for all relevant parties to come together to draw up a sound and safe plan in order to reduce the public health risks to a minimum. We will lose no time in liaising with various parties to finalise the plan as soon as possible."
He added, "We recently received a notification from the relevant Mainland authorities that a 77-year-old man from Hong Kong was suspected to have infected with COVID-19 and passed away. The case was later classified as a confirmed COVID-19 case. As soon as we learned about the case, the Wuhan ETO contacted his family in Guangzhou immediately to offer assistance.
"According to our knowledge, there are currently 10 Hong Kong people in Hubei Province, involving three families, who were infected with COVID-19. Nine of them are being treated in local hospitals and one of them has been discharged. Among the hospitalised, except for one whose condition is critical, the rest of them are in stable condition."
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