All Hongkongers from the UK tested negative

All Hongkongers who returned from the UK on the first designated flight tested negative for Covid-19, according to Under Secretary for Food & Health Chui Tak-yi.

The flight, which carried 291 citizens who were once stranded in the UK, arrived in Hong Kong at 4.30am today.

They underwent virus tests immediately as they got off the plane, and all 291 passengers tested negative, Chui said.

They have been sent to Rambler Garden Hotel in Tsing Yi for a 21-day quarantine, and will undergo virus tests again on the 7th, 12th and 19th day.

After the 21-day quarantine, they have to monitor their situations for 7 more days and undergo another virus test on the 26th day.

Tsui said if anyone is tested carrying the disease during quarantine, they and their close-contacts will be transferred by vehicle designated by the government, which will not pose any risk to the area.

Some passengers complained about the sales of flight tickets as tickets sold out quickly. "The tickets were selling quickly and sold out very soon. Therefore, I have to buy tickets in the business class and it costs me HK$30,000, which is really expensive," a passenger surnamed Chiu said.

A father surnamed Yip said the ticket purchase process was very difficult and his daughter took an hour to buy the ticket. "There are so many people stuck in the UK but the flight only has 300 seats. The server broke down when I tried to access it and no one picked up the hotline. It is very chaotic, to be honest."

The government's two designated flights from the UK to Hong Kong are operated by Cathay Pacific, with the second flight departing from London on April 28 at 9:10 am.

The ticket presale began on April 8 and the server once broke down due to overwhelming responses. All tickets were sold out within two hours.

In the past two weeks the city reported 165 confirmed cases, in which 128 are imported and 37 are local cases.
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