Mandatory tests loom to avert fourth wave

Mandatory testing could be on the cards as temporary Covid-19 test centers will be set up in four districts ahead of a feared fourth wave, with 18 new cases detected yesterday and clusters growing in a bar and a care home.

The test centers will be put up in Kwai Chung, Kowloon City, Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai and 46 public clinics will extend distribution hours of saliva sampling bottles, health authorities announced.

The measures aim to prevent a possible fourth wave as winter nears, with experts warning it could be fiercer than before.

Hong Kong reported 18 new cases - the highest number in a day since September 20 - as clusters surrounding China Secret bar in Tsim Sha Tsui and Home of Treasure for the mentally disabled in Kwai Chung grew.

The Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan Siu-chee, said closing venues like bars is a final step to curb the spread of Covid-19, but it would be more important for authorities to act quickly and control the outbreak points.

She said she is reviewing the legal framework for "mandatory testing" without specifying whether it targets ordinary citizens or high-risk groups.

Director of Health Constance Chan Hon-yee said the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation confers health officers with the legal power to request a person suspected to have Covid-19 or been in touch with a patient to go through tests or be put under quarantine.

Refusal to follow the instruction is a criminal offense carrying up to six months in jail and a HK$5,000 fine.

The director of health noted that figures from the University of Hong Kong medical school showed people are now traveling more than before the pandemic, and one patient is projected to infect another person - meaning infection numbers are unlikely to go down.

"In the past week, we have seen more local infections from unknown sources and patients have a significantly higher viral load," she said. "The third wave has never ended and we keep seeing lingering cases. All of these are bad signs pointing to a rebound. It's a worrying situation."

Distribution hours of saliva sampling bottles at 46 Hospital Authority clinics will be extended to 9am to 1pm, and 1pm to 5pm on weekdays.

Yesterday's fresh cases were 12 men and six women comprising four imported, 13 linked to previous infections and one from an unknown origin, taking Hong Kong's tally to 5,162 including 105 deaths.

Fewer than 10 preliminary positive patients are waiting for confirmation.

The unknown source patient is a 65-year-old male retiree living at Block Six of Braemar Hill Mansions in North Point. He goes to Fitness First's Causeway Bay and Wan Chai branches almost every day.

Chuang Shuk-kwan, Centre for Health Protection's head of communicable disease branch, said the man had worn masks at the gyms.

"But we will arrange virus tests for staff and other users of the fitness centers. We've also advised the gyms to close for disinfection," she said.

China Secret bar has seen one more confirmed case of a 29-year-old man - the fourth patient who had been to the bar on September 23. One of his friends who was also at the bar that night is a preliminary positive case.

Home of Treasure for the mentally disabled in Kwai Chung saw 11 more residents infected, taking the cluster's tally to 12.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com