Hong Kong to evacuate stranded residents of Chinese Hubei

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong has organized four charter flights to bring back 533 of its residents from China's Hubei province, the center of the coronavirus epidemic, about a month after countries around the world began to evacuate their citizens.

Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said the flights would return on Wednesday and Thursday and those who return would be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival.

Various countries, including the United States, France, Germany and South Korea, began evacuating hundreds of their citizens in late January or early February.

More than 3,800 Hong Kong residents in more than 30 cities in Hubei, of which Wuhan is the capital, had asked for help from the Chinese-run semi-autonomous city government, creating a logistical headache for the government. .

"We do not think we have delayed the return of stranded Hungarians to Hubei," Lam told reporters at his weekly press conference.

"As far as I know, even so far, there are still very clear restrictions on exit arrangements … from Hubei Province. As soon as the conditions were ready for us to help Hong Kong residents return to Hong Kong, we immediately made arrangements to do so. "

The health crisis comes after months of anti-government protests sparked by fears that the former British colony’s special autonomy would be eroded by Beijing’s interference. The Chinese government denies interfering in Hong Kong.

The coronavirus killed two of the 100 people infected in the Asian financial center.

Lam's government has come under criticism from pro-democracy activists and legislators, as well as business and settlement figures, for managing the epidemic .

In particular, his decision not to completely close the border with mainland China was seen by many as a decision to appease Beijing, which sparked protests against plans to turn certain buildings into quarantine centers, including some have become violent.

During the first week of February, 8,000 doctors, nurses and medical personnel from the all-new Hospital Authority Employees Alliance (HAEA) participated in a five-day strike, chanting, "Close the border, save Hong Kong." .

Lam maintained that the government's response had no political considerations and was based on evidence and in accordance with scientific advice and guidelines from the World Health Organization.

She also said that a complete closure of the border would be inappropriate and discriminatory.

The epidemic has reduced the flow of visitors to the city to a net and has kept residents inside, delivering a severe blow to the retail and tourism industries at a time when the The city's economy was already experiencing its worst recession in a decade.

The Hong Kong government announced its biggest budget deficit last week to cushion the economic blow.

Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Kim Coghill, Robert Birsel

Our standards:Principles of the Thomson Reuters Trust.

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