London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Hongkongers and residents fleeing Covid-19 outbreak confronted with hard decisions about jobs, children’s schooling

Hongkongers and residents fleeing Covid-19 outbreak confronted with hard decisions about jobs, children’s schooling

Government’s decision to close all schools to help contain the outbreak gives exodus a fillip. Illness threatens city’s ability to keep and attract talent

As a cordon sanitaire tightened around Hong Kong and the local population stockpiled surgical masks, rice and toilet paper, local flag carrier Cathay Pacific quietly laid on extra flights to far-flung destinations such as New York and Vancouver so that people could escape the city.

Sami Hine joined the throngs deserting Hong Kong to wait out the new coronavirus. She frantically searched for a mask for her child to wear on the plane. “I’m flying back to the UK tomorrow night with my daughter to escape this virus madness,” she said in a local chat group for mums. Others commented on the thread that they too were leaving.

Anxious Hongkongers are looking to beat multiplying border restrictions, such as Taiwan’s 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

And although Cathay might have boosted flights to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York from 11 to 14 a week, and doubled flights to Vancouver to 14 a week in February, the carrier and its, Cathay Dragon, have cancelled more than half of their flights this month and March amid the outbreak. Elsewhere, United Airlines said it will suspend all flights to and from Hong Kong through February 20.

“I just left on the last flight out of Hong Kong that United Airlines is allowing … will most likely return when United Airlines allows flights back,” Derek Chapman said in a chat group for expats in Hong Kong on Friday, February 7.



The Hong Kong government’s decision to close all schools and kindergartens to help contain the spread of the deadly virus has also given the exodus a fillip.

A partner at an advisory firm in Hong Kong said his seven-year-old son had missed time at school because of the protests and was now at home because of the coronavirus. He and his wife were struggling to persuade their son to sit in front of a computer screen to learn online.

The exodus has also separated family members, with breadwinners staying back in Hong Kong to work. “I sent my family home to Canada. But we weren’t worried about the virus. The school closure and lack of activities in the city more than anything else were what made us decide on it,” Eric Hung said in a chat group. “I’m staying put,” he added. “Still gotta work and pay bills.”

“We dropped the kids (4 and 6) off with [their] grandparents in Ireland and have managed to get them into school/preschool there,” Alexandra Byrne said in a post. “Heartbreaking dropping them off not quite knowing when you’ll see them again.”

A senior expat businessman said that his wife and two-and-a-half year-old daughter were in Taiwan whilst he continued to work in Hong Kong. He felt reassured they were leading a normal life instead of worrying that border restrictions would choke off the supply of everyday goods.

The number of local Chinese leaving Hong Kong is also picking up, according to anecdotal evidence, although the process is more convoluted for people without overseas passports. And some might not come back at all.

Tensions in the former British colony steadily ratcheted up during eight months of anti-government protests, and are now being amplified by the outbreak of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Business has – as a result – slowed. Hong Kong’s economy contracted for the first time in a decade last year and Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on February 2 that it could contract further in 2020, as the outbreak hits the bottom lines of retailers, restaurants, hotels and other businesses.

Taxi driver Samuel is feeling the business slowdown. He circled for three hours before picking up his first passenger last weekend, normally a busy time for him in the Hong Kong neighbourhood of Sai Kung. However, he considered himself “lucky”, as his colleague radioed through from Hong Kong’s airport that he had been waiting six hours for customers.



The protests and the outbreak are proving to be catalysts for life decisions, giving an extra fillip to local residents who were already mulling a move, said John Hu, the founder of Hong Kong-based John Hu Migration Consulting. Sales at his company have risen fourfold over the past six months, with Australia and Canada the top picks among destinations for migrants.

He hosted a webinar on migration procedures recently and more than 100 people registered for the call, a record number, said Hu, whose grandchildren have already left Hong Kong to attend school in Australia.

“We are the only surviving industry,” he joked.



Recruitment consultants have reported that business was slowing, partly because a hiring manager wanted to meet a job applicant in person before making a decision, but also because people were worried about coming to Hong Kong.

“I'm due to relocate to Hong Kong in March with my job … My feeling is to delay until this dies down, but not sure if I’m being overly cautious,” Lucie Natalia Heim said in a chat group.

The exodus in Hong Kong is reminiscent of foreigners and locals fleeing Japan in the wake of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and radiation leak. Offended locals who carried on working throughout the crisis, disparagingly nicknamed the escapees “flyjin”, a play on gaijin, the Japanese word for foreigners.

Many of these flyjin came to Hong Kong temporarily and never returned as business took off in the financial hub and stagnated in Japan.

And as Hong Kong picks itself up after the epidemic abates, there will be hard choices to make. “Extended CNY holiday in Europe till probably early March, and permanently relocating end of March. I will miss Hong Kong for sure, but not the last 9 months!” Michelle Price said in a chat group.

Many local and foreign professionals in Hong Kong were already feeling the pressure as Hong Kong increasingly looked to China for business and mainland Chinese workers – who intimately understand the working culture – to employ.

China’s economy is twice as big as it was in 2010, and Chinese companies have raised US$1.3 trillion in equity capital markets during the past decade, much of it via international investors in Hong Kong, according to data provider Refinitiv.

“People who have jobs and are getting paid can sustain the lifestyle, but it is not as much fun as it used to be. People are just tired after the protests and tensions have risen [again],” the senior businessman said. “There is a sense that opportunities aren’t going to come as fast and frequently as before.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×