A chartered flight carrying 106 Hong Kong residents, who had been quarantined on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, landed at Hong Kong International Airport at around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday. They have all tested negative for the COVID-19 in Japan before arrival in Hong Kong.

They will be tested again in Hong Kong, and those with relevant symptoms will be quarantined and those without symptoms will spend two more weeks in isolation at a newly-built public housing estate in Fo Tan.

This is the first batch of Chinese nationals on the cruise ship returning home. More than 20 others have not yet decided if they will take the charted flight home, Li Jiachao, Security Bureau Director of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) said. 

A second chartered flight from Hong Kong is scheduled to leave at 11:00 p.m. local time today. 

Li said the SAR government aims to bring all Hong Kong residents on the cruise ship home by Thursday, and a third plane will be arranged if necessary. 

There are 364 Hong Kong residents on the ship, among whom 55 have been diagnosed with virus infection, and another 33 are under observation because of close contacts, so they have to stay in Japan.

As of Thursday, 634 passengers and crew members from the Diamond Princess have been confirmed infected with the novel coronavirus, the largest cluster of COVID-19 infections outside China.