The first batch of chartered flights arranged by the government will bring home over 450 Hong Kong residents stranded in Wuhan, Hubei province’s capital and the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior official said on Sunday night.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said on his social media account that officials from his bureau and Immigration Department had contacted more than 600 registered Hong Kong residents stranded in Wuhan. Over 450 of them had confirmed they will fly home by chartered flights.

Officials will start giving notifications to those confirmed evacuees starting from Monday and will continue to monitor their health conditions.

The first group to be evacuated will also include those in other Hubei cities with urgent needs for evacuation, such as pregnant women and patients with chronic diseases. 

Regarding those with urgent needs in other cities of Hubei, the secretary said officials have to review their health conditions to assess if they are suitable to board the flights. They also have to take into account the feasibility for those stranded in other cities in Hubei to travel to the airport in Wuhan, he added.

He added the officials will confirm the number of residents stranded in other Hubei cities to be taken back to Hong Kong as soon as possible.

The details of the evacuation operation will be released in a day or two, according to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Sunday.

According to local media, six Cathay Dragon flights have been chartered for the evacuation and the first flight is expected to take off on Wednesday.

Lam, on a social media post, said the evacuation operation and the preparations for a 14-day quarantine and tests for the novel coronavirus after returning to the city will be the government’s priority next week.

According to a government statement, the flights will only accept Hong Kong ID card holders with no symptoms of fever and respiratory or infectious diseases.

The Hubei provincial government will also help to ensure that neither confirmed patients nor their close contacts will be included in the evacuation list, Nip said.

The evacuation plan to bring home residents stranded in Hubei was announced on Feb 24 and registration of the eligible ones continued till 6 pm Friday.

Upon their arrival in Hong Kong, the evacuees will be quarantined at designated centers for 14 days.

As of Feb 24, the Hong Kong government said it had received 2,700 calls for help from Hong Kong people in Hubei. At least 10 Hong Kong people in Hubei are known to have been infected with the novel coronavirus.

Contact the writers at zhaoruinan@chinadaily.com.cn