HONG KONG - Some 300 Hong Kong residents stranded in Pakistan due to travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 epidemic will be taken home on Thursday by a chartered flight arranged by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government (HKSAR).The chartered flight is tentatively scheduled for departure from Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, on Thursday morning and is expected to arrive in Hong Kong in the afternoon, a spokesman for the Security Bureau of the HKSAR government said in a statement Wednesday.

The chartered flight is tentatively scheduled for departure from Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, on Thursday morning and is expected to arrive in Hong Kong in the afternoon

The HKSAR government has contacted about 1,600 Hong Kong residents in Pakistan and will arrange for them to return to Hong Kong in several batches.

The first batch of Hong Kong residents coming back are those staying in Islamabad and its surrounding areas and also those with special needs such as people with illness and pregnant women.

READ MORE: Govt-chartered flight to bring back HK residents from Peru

Upon arriving at the Hong Kong airport, the passengers on the flight will first take COVID-19 tests and will then be sent to quarantine centers for 14 days of mandatory quarantine, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said that the chartered flight could not have been arranged smoothly without the staunch support of the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR and the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, as well as the full cooperation rendered by the Pakistan government and the Consulate General of Pakistan in Hong Kong.

ALSO READ: Chartered flights bring 281 HK residents home from Hubei

Besides, the HKSAR government has also contacted some 3,100 residents stranded in India and will make proper arrangements to bring them home.