More Free Test Kits Handed Out In Housing Estates

Mass testing of residents in some public housing estates in Hong Kong continued on Wednesday after the government announced that it would expand its community testing scheme to cover some 44,000 residents in 22 more buildings and some village houses.

The Home Affairs Department (HAD) announced on Tuesday that the expanded scheme would cover some public housing blocks in areas such as Wong Tai Sin, Sha Tin and Tsing Yi, as well as some village houses in Yuen Long.

It said these buildings are regarded as high risk after coronavirus cases were reported.

On Wednesday, about 10 people from the HAD wearing protective gear were seen handing out kits to residents on the ground floor of one of the buildings at Chuk Yuen Estate in Wong Tai Sin.

Last week, the authorities announced that they would be changing the way they collect specimens for Covid-19 testing, from a deep-throat saliva sample to asking individuals to present a throat-swab they take themselves.

Staff were also seen explaining the test instructions to residents, and there were also computer screens at the entrances of some buildings demonstrating how to do the throat-swab test.

Some residents told RTHK that they felt the staff explained the procedures clearly. One of them, a man surnamed Leung, said he has not left his estate for the past six months after several people at Chuk Yuen Estate contracted Covid-19.

An elderly woman surnamed Chan said that she had a lot of questions about how to do the throat-swab because she was doing it for the first time. She said the test – which involves swabbing the back of your throat three to five times – appears to be uncomfortable and she would prefer giving a deep-throat saliva sample.

Other residents told RTHK that the government acted too late, and should have arranged for testing to be carried out when the number of confirmed cases in the area was at its highest.