Expert Supports Tougher Building-testing Rules

Infectious disease expert Leung Chi-chiu said he agrees with the government decision to ramp up Covid testing even if there's only one untraceable infection in a building.

That, along with the mandatory testing of workplaces with two or more cases, were among the latest infection-control measures announced by the government on Monday.

"We are seeing fewer and fewer cases in the designated areas, and we cannot just concentrate on a few designated areas without paying attention to the transmission in all other districts," Leung said.

But he questioned if more lockdowns will help stop the virus from being transmitted in the community, with Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung suggesting there will be at least one a day in the next 10 days before Lunar New Year.

"The government has to clearly indicate what is the main purpose of such lockdown because if you look at it from a scientific point of view, testing has an important limitation because this disease has a very long incubation period.

"Even if you test all the citizens, all the people within a building and do not find any cases, there's no guarantee there won't be any further cases in future because there may be some people still in the incubation period," Leung told RTHK's Violet Wong.

He said one-off testing of residents may not be enough to reduce the risk of transmission at a building.

"It still relies on the individual to stay on high alert so that they can come forward for re-testing even if they have a negative result on the compulsory testing, whether there are any other cases with the building during compulsory testing."

The expert acknowledged that it's difficult to get people to comply with mandatory testing orders.

"It's something we need to do to control the infection in Hong Kong. Unless we can call upon the whole community to cooperate, to work together towards such an important task, otherwise I think it will take a long time before we can control the local transmission and allow the economy to recover."