'Mass Testing Without Lockdown May Not Yield Results'

An infectious disease expert has urged the government to make sure it has enough facilities to isolate and treat Covid-19 patients if it were to roll out mandatory testing for everyone in Hong Kong, adding that such a large-scale screening exercise may not be effective without locking down the city.

Joseph Tsang from the Hong Kong Medical Association was speaking on an RTHK programme on Thursday, after some local media quoted sources as saying the government has decided to order city-wide tests in light of the surge in infections.

“Will it yield the results we want? When the positive cases emerge, and when we find out the proportion is large and exceed the capacity of isolation facilities… there must be contingency plans. When we find the cases, what happens then? How do we set the priorities for people who need the services most? In particular, how do we handle people who live in crowded flats?” he asked.

The government had earlier said there’s currently no plan to impose a territory-wide lockdown, but Tsang said if people continue to move around in the city while universal testing is underway, it may not be able to effectively curb the outbreaks.

“Without locking down [the city], it will really lose the effectiveness and meaning. If the government is really hoping to order everyone to undergo three tests, I think it should carefully consider whether to include lockdowns, because going halfway is meaningless,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Hospital Authority’s chief nursing manager, Lawrence Poon, said more support will be provided for Covid patients who have mild or no symptoms and have to self-isolate at home.

He said the HA is in talks with the private medical sector for them to provide over-the-phone consultation services, but he didn’t say how many doctors were now engaged or when it would start.

Poon added that the authority has recruited a considerable number of part-time personnel to help in quarantine facilities.