Rapid Test Exercise 'no Bearing On Easing Curbs'

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Sunday said the government will announce in detail in the coming week the easing of social distancing measures from April 21, and that the results of the three-day self-test exercise won't be tied to the relaxation.

The distancing restrictions, including the closure of entertainment venues and a ban on dine-in at restaurants after 6pm, have been in place since early January to curb the Omicron outbreak, and Lam said it's time to gradually to relax them as Covid cases head south.

Speaking at her daily Covid briefing, the chief executive noted there had not been a huge surge in cases after the three-day voluntary self-test exercise started on Friday.

She said the number of Covid cases reported on Saturday remained stable, and the overall trend was still heading downwards, pointing out that cases confirmed by PCR tests dropped to three digits.

Lam said while there's no way of knowing the exact number of residents who had heeded the government's call to do a rapid antigen test (RAT), she believed many people had.

"Anecdotal evidence suggest that many have. We have been asking around, we surfed the Facebook of different groups and social media and so on," she said.

"But naturally in a city like Hong Kong, I am sure there will be people who do not respond to the government's appeal."

The chief executive also said the results of the three-day rapid test exercise, which ends on Sunday, will have no bearing on the upcoming relaxation of social distancing measures.

"By now, it's quite clear that we are trending down... By and large, unless there's an exponential surge, otherwise we will continue to implement the relaxation. But the relaxation will be gradual, it will take three stages over three months in order to remove most of the social distancing measures we have put in. But apparently, it will have no particular relevance to the RAT exercise," she said.

Lam added it may take another few days for authorities to collect all the data from the three-day exercise, and that it's not clear yet if compulsory universal testing should be conducted in the short run.

She also said officials will announce shortly the arrangements for the resumption of face-to-face classes after the Easter holiday, which will involve asking students to do a rapid test every day or every other day before they go to school.