Lawmaker Urges Action On Long Testing Queues

DAB lawmaker, Holden Chow, on Thursday called on the government to improve testing arrangements in Tuen Mun, after some residents complained that they had to queue for hours despite the government opening up 10 testing sites.

Authorities fear silent transmission of coronavirus in the district and have listed Tuen Mun as a Covid hotspot.

Chow, the New Territories North West lawmaker, said he'd told the government to add more testing sites - and to encourage people to go to other districts for testing, adding that it should be possible to see which centres were busiest.

"I also urge the government to provide a real-time system to report the queueing situation of different testing centres," Chow told Hong Kong Today.

Chow also said people could choose where to get tested.

"They don't need to do the testing in Tuen Mun," Chow said.

"They could actually go to Yuen Long, or, even - if they work on Hong Kong island or Kowloon side - they can do the testing there."

The government said on Wednesday that apart from the testing centre at Siu Lun Community Hall, nine other mobile testing stations are providing free tests for residents and workers in the area. They're in Tsing Tin Playground, Tai Hing Community Hall, San Wo Lane Playground, Butterfly Bay Community Centre, Lung Yat Community Hall, Yau Oi Sports Centre, Yau Oi Estate Football Field, On Ting/Yau Oi Community Centre and Kin Sang Community Hall.

A contractor who operates six of the testing stations said they had three times the usual number of staff on Wednesday but were still nearing full capacity.