One of the women who was airlifted from Hubei province walks out of a bus while carrying her baby in Fo Tan district on Wednesday. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

The first batch of 244 Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei province for over a month finally returned home on Wednesday via two chartered flights arranged by the Special Administrative Region government. 

In drizzling rain, the two flights run by Cathay Dragon arrived at Hong Kong International Airport from central Wuhan at 4:55 pm and 9:47 pm respectively. All those on board wore face masks and protective gowns provided by the government.  

The government attached great importance to the evacuation operations and the following quarantine arrangement

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Hong Kong chief executive

Three residents were not allowed to board the flights due to having a fever. 

Pregnant women, Diploma of Secondary Education Examination candidates and those requiring medical attention were among the first batch to fly back home. Several medical employees, including obstetricians to help pregnant women, were also on the flights. 

They were sent directly for a mandatory 14-day quarantine at Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan in the eastern New Territories on special buses. Medical workers at the quarantine center will ensure they are all tested for the virus. Temperature checks will be conducted every day. 

Two more flights will bring back over 200 residents today. 

Among evacuees to return on the chartered flights on Wednesday was a male passenger, surnamed Chan, and his wife, who is 36 weeks pregnant.

Chan said he was very excited to come back, and thanked the government for caring about them. He also praised the government for providing all necessary protective measures.

There are around 3,800 Hong Kong residents living in 37 different cities in Hubei, according to Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen. 

In a letter to those returned via chartered flights, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the government attached great importance to the evacuation operations and the following quarantine arrangement. She called on all those who have returned to Hong Kong to cooperate with the quarantine measures.

Lam said the government would do its best to help with their demands. She said more stranded residents will be progressively brought home.

 Also on Wednesday, Hong Kong recorded four more infected cases of the virus; three of them are asymptomatic and close contacts of previous patients.

The confirmed infection tally in the city has now reached 104. The newly comfirmed patient is  a 69-year-old female with a chronic disease, who came back from India on Feb 24. She had fever on Feb 28 and then tested positive. Another two confirmed patients were both linked to a Buddhist worship hall in North Point, where the city’s biggest cluster of infections emerged. As of Wednesday, 18 cases have been linked to the hall.    

One new patient is a 43-year-old man, who is the “master” of the Buddhist worship hall in North Point. 

This man was in Sichuan province from Jan 18 to Feb 10. He was tested negative for the virus on Feb 28, when he was in the quarantine center as a close contact, head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health Chuang Shuk-kwan told a daily press briefing. 

The 102nd case involved a 57-year-old female domestic helper of two previously confirmed patients — one of whom had also visited the Buddhist worship hall in North Point. 

Meanwhile, six more patients of a total of 43 were discharged from the hospital. Fifty-five patients remain hospitalized, with two in critical condition.

The Hospital Authority said some people had visited emergency wards or outpatient clinics to demand tests for the novel coronavirus despite having no related symptoms. 

In doing so, they are putting an unnecessary burden on an already stretched medical service, the authority said. It urges members of the public to remain calm and not to expose themselves to unnecessary risks of infection.

Contact the writers at heshusi@chinadailyhk.com