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Secretary for Health Lo Chung Mau said the government may take references from the mainland and Macau to set up a health code system, as well as require real-name registration for the LeaveHomeSafe app.
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Speaking on a TV program, Lo said although he hoped to let citizens reunite with their families in the mainland by Double Seventh Festival, completely lifting the quarantine arrangement was not reasonable for the time being.
He added that 2.5 percent of Hong Kong people got confirmed for the Covid virus after crossing the border, believing that if no one tested positive upon arrival, the mainland might give more quotas on cross-border travel.
He said that the authorities will consider introducing a health code system with red, yellow and green codes, where people are categorized into three groups according to their infection risks. "If we let the confirmed patients go around freely, the freedom of us who were not confirmed will be restricted."
Lo said the color code is to enhance the ability to detect patients. He said he was studying the optimization of the existing program, which in addition to informing the public to undergo mandatory testing, reminding them to avoid high-risk places before being tested, and consider barring those subject to compulsory testing from entering certain premises.
He also said the nucleic acid test is more accurate than the rapid test, which was not enough for the high-risk groups, especially staffers of residential care homes. The government will bear the cost of nucleic acid testing and he had communicated with the nucleic acid test suppliers on July 1, hoping to increase the detection capacity.
In addition, Lo said the price of nucleic acid testing should be reviewed, citing the example that a single-tube test in mainland costs 16 yuan, while the price of a mixed-tube test was four yuan.
He suggested that citizens should be allowed to pre-register their information online so that they could be tested by scanning the QR code, which would save the manpower of testing centers.
