Experts Differ In View On Territory-wide Covid Tests

A prominent infectious disease expert from the mainland says Hong Kong should make it mandatory for everyone to test for Covid-19 if the outbreak worsens, but a local expert discounted this, saying this is not practical.

Zhong Nanshan, director of the State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, said the Hong Kong government should provide territory-wide free nucleic acid screenings, adding the mainland could supply test kits and manpower.

He added Hong Kong should conduct more frequent exchanges with mainland authorities over prevention and control measures.

In an interview with state media Xinhua News Agency published on Thursday morning, Zhong also said control measures imposed by the SAR administration are taking effect, as there is no exponential growth in new infection numbers.

He added that the government must take firm action against people who “deliberately come out to make trouble” or “hold gatherings or demonstrations” during what he described as an "extraordinary stage" in combating the outbreak.

David Hui, a respiratory disease expert from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, agrees with Zhong that the situation is improving.

He said his colleagues from the University of Hong Kong have conducted analysis, and results suggest that the third wave of outbreak could be over by the end of August.

But Hui said it’s not practical to test everyone for Covid in the city.

“If you test indiscriminately, it may not be very cost-effective. One can be negative on one day but there is no guarantee that he or she would not be infected in a few days or next week,” he told RTHK’s Priscilla Ng.

“For the mainland, it would be easy, because they have unlimited testing capacity. But in Hong Kong, we tend to be more target-based in term of testing,” Hui added.