Hong Kong residents returning from a government-chartered flight from Hubei arrive at the Hong Kong airport March 25, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG/CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – Two hundred and eighty-one Hong Kong residents returned to the city from Hubei province as two government-chartered flights landed at Hong Kong airport from Wuhan Wednesday evening.

Another two flights will depart for Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, to bring back more Hong Kong residents on Thursday

Speaking to reporters at Hong Kong International Airport after returning from Wuhan, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said the government had planned to bring back 285 Hong Kong residents on Wednesday. But three of them had failed to board the flights due to high body temperature while one had changed his mind, Nip said.

Another two flights will depart for Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, Thursday.

Nip and Director of Immigration Erick Tsang Kwok-wai were leading a special team of 47 to carry out the evacuation.

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Hong Kong residents take the first flight back queuing up for registration at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, March 25, 2020. (PHOTO / INFORMATION SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF THE HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

On March 4 and 5, the HK government had sent four chartered flights to bring back 469 Hong Kong residents from Hubei province. 

A quarter of 285 people to be brought back Wednesday are under 16, Nip told reporters before departing, adding some of the teenagers’ relatives were flying with them to Wuhan to bring the children back. 

Upon arrival in Hong Kong, passengers will be placed under home quarantine for 14 days as the epidemic in Hubei has subsided and the risk of infection is relatively low, said Nip.

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A 62-year-old Hong Kong resident died in Hubei on Friday, Nip said. Fourteen Hong Kong residents in Hubei were diagnosed with COVID-19. Of them, two died and twelve have been discharged from hospitals.