Various units of the Hong Kong Police Force have been performing different duties in the fight against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Take the Regional Missing Persons Unit (RMPU) as an example—not only are RMPU members tasked with handling day-to-day cases involving missing persons, they are now responsible for assisting the Department of Health (DH) in tracking down persons who have violated the quarantine order as well.

Inspector Chui, who is in charge of the RMPU (Kowloon West), said that since the mandatory home quarantine order came into effect on February 8, each RMPU has been receiving case referrals from the DH, in a bid to assist the DH in searching for persons in violation of the quarantine order as well as handling the subsequent summoning and prosecutions, once the missing persons are found.

To bring the epidemic under control, the severing of suspected or known transmission pathways is key. In order to prevent the virus from further spreading via persons that may have already been infected, it is paramount to find such persons when they have gone missing. According to Inspector Chui, RMPU KW has successfully assisted in issuing summons and brought prosecutions in response to two violations to date, in which both persons attempted to depart Hong Kong but were intercepted at the border.

Inspector Chui said that once the persons flouting the home quarantine order are located, time is of the essence. While they have to ensure that colleagues are adequately equipped with personal protective gear, they also have to waste no time in collecting statements from persons disobeying the quarantine order, verifying their explanation for violating the order, and assisting the DH with subsequent procedures regarding the issue of summons as well as prosecutions. Although the quarantine-related tasks are an added responsibility on top of their regular tasks, Inspector Chui and her team firmly believe it is the Force's inherent responsibility to help the DH track down and prosecute violators of the quarantine order along the city's fight against the epidemic, and that they hope their work can bring the epidemic under control and mitigate the spread of the virus.