Mass Covid testing not abandoned, says Carrie Lam

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the citywide compulsory testing scheme has not been abandoned, and the government may test its 7 million residents when infections fall.

Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, Chief Executive Lam said the universal testing would be a feasible option when the Covid situation subsides.  

“Once the pandemic eases to a certain level, we would look to identify the remaining cases in the community and curb the transmission chain,” she said.  

The government announced last month it would test all residents for Covid-19, during which measures that restrict people’s movements would be in place. It sparked panic buying among shoppers, as people swept food and daily necessities off shelves of supermarkets. 

But Lam announced this Monday that the plan is now on hold following experts’ advice and constraints. “The SAR government will continue to monitor the situation. When the conditions are right, we will consider whether we will be implementing the compulsory universal testing," she said. 

Meanwhile, a health expert told a radio program this morning that mass testing will be essential if Hong Kong is to reopen borders between the city and mainland China.  

The government must carefully consider the timing and relevant complementary measures in carrying out the universal testing to screen out silent Covid carriers ahead of the border reopening, said Dr. Joseph Tsang Kay-yan, co-chairman of the Medical Association’s advisory committee on communicable diseases.  

The infectious diseases expert also said it is unlikely that a sixth Covid wave will strike Hong Kong.  

With a large number of citizens having contracted the coronavirus recently, Tsang said the city could achieve a “short-term herd immunity.”  

“However, if Hong Kong relaxed its Covid curbs, it is foreseeable that the city’s Covid situation will rebound to a certain extent…With Covid cases lingering between a few hundred and a thousand daily before it falls back down,” he added.