Students to be assigned regular rapid testing

Students may have to take a rapid Covid tests daily or every other day as face-to-face classes resume after the Easter break, says Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

Lam said she will announce details on class resumption and the relaxation of social distancing measures after April 21 and, this week, the plans for the return of public and transitional housing units used as isolation facilities to some 5,000 to 6,000 households.

She said the fifth wave has stabilized without a rebound and it is nearly time to reveal her detailed plan on loosening restrictions.

"What we are dealing with today is the Omicron variant, which is highly transmissible but with much fewer symptoms and less lethal," Lam said.

"We are capable of handling it. We have isolation facilities and there are more beds for Covid patients in hospitals now. People have been vaccinated, too."

Lam said for a public health response, it might not be suitable if Hong Kong uses the previous social distancing standards and restricts movement.

But yesterday's announcement means restaurants and other closed premises will not benefit from the long Easter weekend - from this Friday to next Monday.

Asked if she will extend the "no jab, no entry" vaccine pass to students, Lam said vaccination should not be a factor to decide whether a pupil can enter the campus as around 200,000 kindergarten and primary students - between the ages three and 11 or about 30 percent of that population group - are unvaccinated.

"Can we bear to see these 30 percent of students stay at home for online classes but their classmates can go to school?" Lam said.

She said it is unfavorable if in-person classes have been suspended on and off in the past two years and that the government's goal is to resume normal school life for the youngsters as much as possible.

Lam said in-person classes will not be suspended easily in the future as authorities have gained experience in the past two years on how to manage pandemic risks.

But she said the city can make use of rapid tests and require students to test themselves before they go to school.

"If every student takes a rapid test in the morning and gets a negative result before they step onto campus, that would be a safe practice as it is believed that the test result won't change from negative to positive in just a few hours," Lam said.

"But we still need to assess whether the test should be done daily or every other day and we will make an announcement soon."

On the city's three-day voluntary mass rapid tests from Friday to yesterday, Lam said the number of self-declared positive cases rose 30 percent on Saturday. Among those cases, 70 percent were asymptomatic, indicating people tested themselves as advised.

Lam said she will review whether the city needs a mandatory territory-wide test after evaluating results from the three-day rapid test scheme, which will be available tomorrow at the earliest.

sophie.hui@singtaonewscorp.com