Bilingual Editorial: Dealing with a rush to return to HK
雙語社評:港人子弟回港「避疫」 政府須有周全配套
文章日期:2020年4月17日

雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)] Presented by Mr WONG, Wayne King-tung, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

[普通話 (足本收聽)] Presented by Mr CHOW, Raymond Wen-chun, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

 

The Hong Kong government has issued a red travel alert for all countries in the world. Starting from midnight on Thursday (March 19), all people arriving in Hong Kong have to put themselves in compulsory home quarantine for 14 days except for those coming from Macao and Taiwan. As the COVID-19 virus is spreading across the world and the second wave of coronavirus cases is happening, the risk of cases imported from abroad is heightening significantly. It is necessary for the Hong Kong government to step up quarantine and disease-control measures at arrival gates. Hong Kong students studying abroad are in their tens of thousands. As these students, who are descendants of Hong Kong people, are set to return to Hong Kong in the short term from Europe and the US to flee the pandemic, it is necessary for the government to plan a response as soon as possible and mobilise more isolation equipment and facilities.

[ENG audio 1]

The pandemic poses an enormous challenge to the whole world, and governments around the globe have all tightened entry restrictions. Countries like the US and Singapore prefer travel bans, barring people from countries where there is an outbreak of the virus from entering. There are also regions that have chosen to step up quarantine measures after arrival, one example being Hong Kong. Early last month, the Hong Kong government, in response to the outbreak on the mainland, required people who had been to mainland China within 14 days of their arrival in Hong Kong to undergo compulsory quarantine. Recently, the majority of confirmed cases have been imported from abroad. With the second wave of coronavirus cases looming, the regions covered by the Hong Kong government's quarantine and isolation measures were expanding. Yesterday (March 17) the government even announced that all people arriving in Hong Kong have to be in compulsory quarantine for 14 days.

[ENG audio 2]

This week the Australian and New Zealand governments have announced that all entrants have to be kept in home quarantine for 14 days. The latest compulsory quarantine measures adopted by the Hong Kong government are largely the same. Due to serious outbreaks in the UK and US, thousands of Hong Kong students are expected to return to Hong Kong to "flee the pandemic". Experts believe that it is inevitable that some of them are infected. Even if they account for only 1% of those returning to Hong Kong, that could translate into over a hundred people carrying the virus. The Hong Kong government has to find ways to ensure that its health declaration and quarantine measures are properly in place to strictly prevent an outbreak at community level from bringing down the healthcare system.

[ENG audio 3]

The Hong Kong government orders all people entering the city — including Hong Kong people — to make health declarations and answer whether they have symptoms. But there are returning Hong Kong residents who say that after they reported on their health conditions as they were, they had to wait at the airport for six hours before they were sent to hospital. Some were even worried about being in the same room with 20-odd people when they were waiting, as they could be infected if any of them carried the virus. The government must prevent such a situation from happening. Otherwise, it might discourage other people from making the declaration factually. At the same time, with such a large number of people rushing into Hong Kong within such a short period of time, the government also has to make sure that there are enough ancillary equipment and facilities for conducting quarantine, including virus test kits and beds for quarantine. Though equipped with the experience of handling a large number of Hong Kong people returning from the mainland to Hong Kong early last month, it must not lower its guard or things could go pear-shaped.

[ENG audio 4]

The Singaporean government has recently closed its borders to travellers from Germany, France, Italy and Spain as well. But the authorities admit at the same time that Singapore cannot stand in isolation from other parts of the world. As the virus spreads across the world, that gradually reduces the effectiveness of immigration controls, and the government has to increasingly rely on measures at community level. Hong Kong has to consider this matter as well when it contemplates its strategy against the virus.

[ENG audio 5]

港人子弟回港「避疫」 政府須有周全配套

港府向全球各國發出紅色外遊警示,周四 (3月19日) 凌晨起,除卻澳門台灣,所有人抵港後均要強制家居檢疫14天。COVID-19病毒全球蔓延,香港出現第二波疫情,外國輸入病例風險顯著增加,港府有必要加強入境檢疫防疫把關。在海外的香港留學生數以萬計,隨着短期內將有大批港人子弟從歐美回港「避疫」,當局必須盡快做好應對部署,調動更多隔離設施和設備。

[PTH audio 1]

疫情對全球帶來巨大挑戰,各地政府都收緊了入境限制,美國和新加坡等傾向的是旅遊禁令,禁止來自爆疫國家的人入境,亦有一些地方選擇加強入境檢疫隔離,當中包括香港。上月初,港府因應內地疫情,規定抵港前14天曾到內地的人,必須接受強制檢疫。近期本港多數確診個案均屬外國輸入,面對第二波疫情,港府入境檢疫隔離措施涵蓋的地區亦不斷擴大,昨天更宣布所有抵港人士均將要強制檢疫14天。

[PTH audio 2]

本周澳洲和新西蘭政府均宣布,所有入境者需要家居隔離14天,港府最新的強制檢疫措施,做法大致相同。英美疫情嚴重,預料短期將有成千上萬港人留學生返港「避疫」,專家相信當中難免有人染疫,就算他們只佔回港人士總數1%,也意味可能有上百人帶着病毒回來,港府要設法確保健康申報和檢疫隔離工作到位,嚴防社區爆發壓垮醫療系統。

[PTH audio 3]

港府規定所有入境者,包括港人在內,均要申報健康交代有否病徵,然而有回港市民表示,如實申報後要在機場呆等6小時,才被送往醫院檢測,有人更擔心,等候期間與20多人共處一室,倘若有人帶有病毒,「無病都變有病」。當局必須避免這類情况出現,否則可能助長其他人嫌麻煩迴避如實申報。與此同時,面對大批人短期內湧回香港,政府也要確保有足夠的檢疫隔離配套,諸如病毒檢測和隔離牀位。雖然當局有上月初處理大批港人從內地回港的經驗,然而絕對不能掉以輕心,否則有可能「倒瀉籮蟹」(不知所措)。

[PTH audio 4]

新加坡政府最近也針對德法意西四國「封關」,惟當局同時承認,新加坡無法孤立自絕於世,隨着病毒全球擴散,入境控制作用將愈來愈小,當局未來將要更多依靠社區防疫措施。香港看待防疫策略,亦要考慮相關問題。

[PTH audio 5]

明報社評2020.03.18