City-wide Covid Testing Being Considered: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Thursday the government will consider rolling out city-wide Covid-19 testing when relevant capabilities are ramped up with the support from mainland authorities.

She was speaking to reporters after welcoming mainland experts arriving in Hong Kong via Shenzhen Bay Port to help with the SAR's fight against Covid-19.

Lam said they are the first reinforcements from across the border, adding she has also requested assistance in medical resources, makeshift facilities and testing capabilities.

The chief executive said 300,000 Covid tests can be conducted per day by the end of the month.

“Although Hong Kong’s nucleic testing capabilities have increased, we haven’t been able to conduct city-wide testing because there are seven million people,” she said.

“This time, one of our requests to the central government is to greatly enhance our testing capabilities... I believe the central government will definitely respond positively to our request.”

While Lam said Hong Kong will be able to conduct territory-wide testing with the help of the mainland, she did not say how it would be done, saying it would be a huge operation that requires detailed planning.

She also did not specify if a lockdown would be imposed during the exercise either, saying the authorities will try to stick to the practice they have adopted all along.

Meanwhile, Lam said the four epidemiology experts from the mainland will be analysing the Covid situation in Hong Kong with health authorities here during their four-day trip.

One of them, Kang Min, said the team hopes to contribute to the SAR’s fight against Covid.

Two testing vehicles have also arrived in Hong Kong.