 |
| Key government officials bare details of the universal testing, and urge all residents to take part |
Government officials have again urged residents to sign up
for the universal community testing for Covid-19 which starts on Sept 1, as
they unveiled details of the scheme today, Aug 28.
All residents can sign up for the test starting at 7am
tomorrow, Saturday, by logging in to a dedicated website: https://www.communitytest.gov.hk/.
Foreign domestic workers are being encouraged to join their employers in taking
part in the exercise.
The mass testing will last for seven days, but depending on
demand, could be extended for another week.
“For yourself, your loved ones, our hardworking medical
staff and the wider community, you should join the testing,” Secretary for the
Civil Service Patrick Nip said at the press conference this morning.
A total of 141 makeshift testing sites have been set up across
18 districts, made up mostly of government-run schools, community halls and
sports centres. They will be open from 8am to 8pm to take samples for the
entire duration of the exercise
Other centres include the Hong Kong Convention and
Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, International
Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kowloon
Bay , Science Park
 |
| Pindutin para sa detalye |
Among the government schools on the list are the North
Point, Shau Kei Wan and Hennesy
Road
Among the districts, Yuen Long has the most number of
centres with 14, while Islands district is on
the other end, with just one.
Nip again explained that those who test negative for
Covid-19 would receive their results via text message within three days, while
those whose result is positive would get a call from the Department of Health.
 |
| Promotional video shows social distancing protocols that will be followed during the mass testing |
Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan also called on the
public to join the testing exercise, saying “this is a very important
prevention measure, the purpose (of which) is to identify those carrying the
virus for early treatment, and to stop the spread of the virus in the
community.”
Chan said that in the early stage of the outbreak, between January
and June, only 350 tests were carried out, but since the third wave began in
mid-July until today, about 950,000 tests have been conducted.
About half, or 420,000 of these tests were administered to
those in high-risk groups such as care home staff, taxi and bus drivers, as
well as market vendors.
But she said universal testing is necessary to detect the
silent carriers and break the invisible transmission in the community.
 |
| Tunghayan ang isa na namang Kwentong Dream Love |
To prepare for additional cases that might be detected from
the mass testing, Chan said 1,250 isolation beds and 500 second-tier beds in isolation
wards have been readied, as well as about 1,000 additional beds in the
community treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo.
On top of these, she said 350 tier-2 isolation beds are on
standby at the Lei Yue Mun treatment center to admit recovering patients and
those in stable condition.
Both Nip and Chan thanked about 6,000 health personnel,
including doctors, nurses, and even teachers and students at medical schools
who have expressed their willingness to take part in the exercise.
Nip said flexible arrangements will be implemented to allow
civil servants to go and take the test during office hours. Private businesses
have also been asked to allow their employees to do the same.
Thomas Chan, permanent secretary for food and health, said
up to 600 mainlanders would be involved in lab testing, while sample collection
would be done by Hongkongers.
But Nip again said there was no reason to fear privacy as
personal data collected for testing would be encrypted and stored in government
servers. Testing agencies would be able to see only codes on the sample
bottles.
All information from people who test negative would remain
in Hong Kong and would be destroyed after a
month.
Dr Constance Chan, director of health, said the community
testing scheme was designed for asymptomatic carriers of the virus. Those with
symptoms should not take the test and should consult a doctor instead.
