LettersWhy Hong Kong’s Covid testing policy needs an update
- When mandatory test results can come back later than voluntary ones, it falls to Hongkongers themselves to act responsibly before the authorities can find a solution to the testing backlog
My wife received her test result that Monday evening, some 33 hours after submission. At the time of writing this letter yesterday morning, 192 hours or exactly eight days later, I had still not received the result of my mandatory test.
On Friday, December 25, I decided to take a voluntary test, again at the Yuen Long Jockey Club clinic. I received the result of this test 35 hours later.
Calls to the hotline resulted in me being asked to keep calling back, because they were inundated with tests. The hotline was singularly unhelpful.
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Coronavirus: Hong Kong extends hotel quarantine for overseas arrivals to 21 days
While I fully support the government in the way it is handling the pandemic, surely common sense dictates that mandatory testing should be given priority over voluntary tests, especially as a doctor has grounds to suspect that a patient may be positive?
Manpower must be redeployed as a matter of urgency, and more laboratories for mandatory tests should be used. Or, the two testing procedures should be combined into one testing facility. How has a situation like this been allowed to develop?