Day One Of Universal Covid Testing 'smooth'

The government says its universal voluntary coronavirus testing scheme was off to a good start, with 126,000 people tested on Tuesday.

The Secretary for the Civil Service, Patrick Nip, said things went smoothly at 141 testing centres across the city on day one of the scheme.

He also said feedback from those who had taken part was generally positive.

Nip added that about 10 percent of those who registered online did not turn up for the tests.

Officials said that by 8pm, about 670,000 people had registered online to take part in the tests over the next few days.

Nip, who is in charge of the programme, said the quota at testing centres will be expanded from Thursday.

"Basically, we reviewed our operational experience today and also assessed the throughout made by the medical team, the healthcare team, and we come to the view that there is room for a further increase in total capacity," Nip said.

Of the 141 centres opened across the territory, 97 were fully booked for day one while at least 14 were fully booked for the rest of the week.

People were seen lining up at some of the centres from 8am on Tuesday as sample collection began.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam and other government officials, along with Executive Council members and pro-establishment lawmakers, went for the test on day one of the scheme.

But pan-democratic lawmakers stayed away. Some of them have called for a boycott.

"Very smooth. Actually there's a lot of space. They have distancing and they do sanitising," one woman who got tested said.

"It is important to do the test... to eradicate the virus as quickly as possible," one man said. "Also, you know, maybe to find out a lot of the asymptomatic carriers, so you need to break the invisible transmission chain... And it's part of civic duty also."

Nip also said about 8,000 people have taken the tests without first making reservations.

Asked if the walk-in arrangement would lead to people without appointments forming queues and posing health risks, Nip said they will still advise people to make an appointment first.

But he also said people should not be turned away as long as testing capacity allows.

The minister made it clear what's most important is for people to stick to social-distancing measures at the centres.

Meanwhile, Nip said authorities have received 89 complaints from people who said someone else has signed them up for tests without their consent.

Forty-four of the cases have been referred to the police.

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