HONG KONG, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will arrange a third chartered flight to bring back more Hong Kong residents on board the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan, HKSAR government officials said on Saturday.
After more than 180 Hong Kong residents returned on two chartered flights arranged by the HKSAR government, the third chartered flight is scheduled to take off in the small hours of Sunday, bringing back all the Hong Kong residents who have been classified as non-close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 cases and allowed to leave the ship, Secretary for Security of the HKSAR government John Lee said at a media briefing held in Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon.
Diamond Princess, initially carrying around 3,700 passengers and crew from more than 50 countries and regions, had been quarantined at the Yokohama Port south of Tokyo since Feb. 5 after an outbreak of the novel coronavirus on the ship.
Before the evacuation operation by the HKSAR government, there were altogether 364 Hong Kong residents on board the quarantined ship.
According to the updated figures provided at Saturday's briefing, over 100 Hong Kong residents on the ship are still in Japan, including 68 tested positive for novel coronavirus, 32 close contacts and dozens of non-close contacts.
Those tested positive for the virus are being treated at hospital in Japan. The close contacts will be brought back later if they are tested negative and are fit to travel by plane, said Secretary for Food and Health of the HKSAR government Sophia Chan at the briefing.
A total of 208 Hong Kong residents on the ship have been back on chartered flights or other flights, and all of them have been sent into a quarantine center in the New Territories for a 14-day quarantine.
Among them, a nine-year-old child who developed mild fever on Friday was sent to hospital and tested negative for the virus, and a 68-year-old man was sent to hospital on Saturday after developing fever, according to Chan.
