'Govt Tests May Spot Only One Third Of The Cases'

A medical expert said on Monday that he thinks the government's upcoming citywide Covid testing scheme will identify only one-third of those infected in the community.

Dr Leung Chi-chiu of the Medical Association said these voluntary universal tests are unlikely to stop transmission because patients in the incubation period won't be identified.

At the same time, those who test positive may already have spread the virus to others, he said.

He added that he has some doubts whether the programme will be safe for both the participants and staff.

“We need to test, I think, the whole city within a short time, and we … only have for example 100 testing centres, it’s almost impossible, I think, to avoid people crowding together at some point,” said Leung.

“The other problem is about the testing procedure, because that will certainly lead to the citizens removing their masks temporarily and the collector [will] be exposed I think to possible [contamination risk] if the subject … sneezes or coughs during the process,” the doctor said.

But one of the government's advisers, Professor David Hui of the Chinese University, said he's not too worried about cross infection risks at the testing stations.

Speaking on the same RTHK radio programme, Hui said people can make appointments with at least 100 testing centres, which will be able to reduce overcrowding.

He said people should grab the chance to get tested as Hong Kong wasn't able to roll out mass testing without Beijing's help, and the help won't last forever.

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