Two people are tested at the windows of a testing vehicle in Beijing on June 30. The success of group testing methods in containing Covid-19 outbreaks in Wuhan and Beijing suggest it might be a useful approach for Hong Kong given the city’s constrained testing capacity. Photo: Reuters Two people are tested at the windows of a testing vehicle in Beijing on June 30. The success of group testing methods in containing Covid-19 outbreaks in Wuhan and Beijing suggest it might be a useful approach for Hong Kong given the city’s constrained testing capacity. Photo: Reuters
Two people are tested at the windows of a testing vehicle in Beijing on June 30. The success of group testing methods in containing Covid-19 outbreaks in Wuhan and Beijing suggest it might be a useful approach for Hong Kong given the city’s constrained testing capacity. Photo: Reuters
Daniel Z. Long
Opinion

Opinion

Daniel Z. Long

Coronavirus third wave: Group testing can address Hong Kong’s limited capacity

  • Hong Kong currently has a quarter to a fifth of the capacity it needs to handle Covid-19, and testing the entire population is prohibitively expensive
  • Emulating the group testing approach taken in Germany, Israel and the mainland can help make more efficient use of the city’s resources

Daniel Z. Long
Daniel Z. Long

Updated: 7:21pm, 3 Aug, 2020

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Two people are tested at the windows of a testing vehicle in Beijing on June 30. The success of group testing methods in containing Covid-19 outbreaks in Wuhan and Beijing suggest it might be a useful approach for Hong Kong given the city’s constrained testing capacity. Photo: Reuters Two people are tested at the windows of a testing vehicle in Beijing on June 30. The success of group testing methods in containing Covid-19 outbreaks in Wuhan and Beijing suggest it might be a useful approach for Hong Kong given the city’s constrained testing capacity. Photo: Reuters
Two people are tested at the windows of a testing vehicle in Beijing on June 30. The success of group testing methods in containing Covid-19 outbreaks in Wuhan and Beijing suggest it might be a useful approach for Hong Kong given the city’s constrained testing capacity. Photo: Reuters
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Daniel Z. Long

Daniel Z. Long

Daniel Z. Long is an associate professor in the Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests focus on decision analytics, operations research and their applications in logistics and supply chain management, and health care operations management.