Govt Testing Centre Operator Worries About Losses

A company which will operate one of four new Covid-19 community testing centres on behalf of the government says it's worried it may run at a loss if not enough people come forward to check whether they have the virus.

People will be able to pay for a test at the centres. But at HK$240, the Hong Kong Molecular Pathology Diagnostic Centre –which will run a site in Sha Tin – said it would need to serve at least 300 to 400 people per day in order to break even.

Director Chris Wong said the company will bear all the costs involved in the sample-taking, crowd control, and laboratory testing.

He added that on top of this, the firm will also need to spend around HK$40,000 on wages and supplies.

"Setting the fee at HK$240 is really cheap ... if fewer than 300 or 400 people come to our centre each day, we will run at a loss," he said.

Wong said he could not understand why some of the other companies who won tenders for the testing centres could offer tests at such a low price, but the rest of the firms would have to follow suit if they decided to accept the deal.

He added that it is proving to be quite a challenge to get the testing centres ready on time, and while supplies and manpower are ready, the operational details and computer systems are still a work in progress.

Officials say from the middle of this month the four testing centres – at Quarry Bay Community Hall, Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre, Sha Tin's Lek Yuen Community Hall, and Yuen Long Town East Community Hall – will offer tests every day between 8am and 8pm.

The centres are expected to operate for an initial period of three months.