The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (March 20) announced that priority will be extended to process cases in which prescription drugs will run out on or before April 30, 2020, under the special scheme for delivering prescription medications to Hong Kong residents who are currently located in Guangdong and Fujian Provinces with urgent need for medications.
A Government spokesman said that in accordance with the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation, all persons who have stayed in the Mainland for any period during the 14 days preceding arrival in Hong Kong will be subject to compulsory quarantine for 14 days. Given the compulsory quarantine measures, some Hong Kong people in Guangdong and Fujian Provinces will be unable to do day trips to Hong Kong to attend follow-up consultations to replenish their medications and return to the Mainland on the same day as they had done previously. Although their family members may collect the prescription medications for them from clinics, they cannot deliver the drugs to the Mainland through ordinary mail services. To address the concern that the prescription medications taken by the aforementioned Hong Kong residents may soon be running out, the HKSAR Government introduced a special scheme on February 24, 2020, to deliver prescription medications to them with priority given to those currently located in Guangdong and Fujian Provinces who will run out of prescription medications by end March. The scheme is limited to the delivery of medications that are considered necessary and are prescribed by registered doctors for the Hong Kong residents concerned. Requests for delivery of other items (including over-the-counter medications and Chinese medicines) will not be entertained.
As at March 19, arrangements were made to deliver medications to more than 2600 Hong Kong residents in need. The spokesman said, "In light of the evolving situation of COVID-19, we will continue to deliver prescription medications to Hong Kong residents who are currently located in Guangdong and Fujian Provinces with urgent need for medications. Priority will be given to cases in which prescription drugs will run out on or before April 30, 2020."
Hong Kong residents who require the service may call the Social Welfare Department's 24-hour Hotline (Tel: 2343 2255), or the hotline of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions' Hong Kong office (Tel: 3652 5833) from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, for details.
Follow this news feed: East Asia