Officials Happy Testing Scheme Has Found Few Cases

The Centre for Health Protection said on Sunday that while the government's universal coronavirus testing scheme has not found many infected people, this is actually a good thing.

Critics have questioned the effectiveness of the territory-wide programme, with the almost 1.7 million tests finding just 26 people with Covid-19.

The centre's Chuang Shuk-kwan said this low figure means there are not many silent carriers in the community.

"But it also proves that there are indeed some cases in the community, so we have to be vigilant and keep up with our personal hygiene," she told a daily news briefing on the pandemic.

Chuang also reported 19 new cases, eight of them involving people who had just returned to the SAR from India and the Philippines.

Among the 11 local cases, the source of infection for three is unknown.

These three are a domestic helper from Indonesia who lives in Lai King, an elderly man in Cheung Sha Wan, and an elderly woman in Tuen Mun Hospital who was a preliminary positive case on Saturday.

Chuang also said that another new patient, a man who has his own delivery business, was found to be related to an earlier case. She said the first patient had not informed officials that the pair had shared a meal together recently.

She said this highlights a difficulty with contact-tracing, as people often don't keep a diary of their movements.