Self-tests Could Find All Silent Virus Carriers: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Friday said Hong Kong could currently have up to 30,000 people infected with Covid but not showing symptoms, as she urged the public to take part in a voluntary three-day mass self-test exercise.

At her daily Covid briefing, the CE cited a study carried out by the University of Hong Kong which put the city’s infection rate at 0.56 per cent on Wednesday.

Lam said this translates into 40,000 people with the virus.

She said assuming three quarters of these people don't know they are infected, if everyone uses the rapid tests distributed in the government’s anti-epidemic packs, 30,000 infections could be uncovered.

“If we find all 30,000 people within three days, issue isolation orders to all of them and quarantine orders to their close contacts, there are chances we can cut off all virus transmission chains. I think it’s worth doing it,” she said.

Lam described the recent vaccine take-up as sluggish, with around 30,000 people getting jabbed each day.