Hong Kong should offer incentives to encourage participation in mass at-home Covid testing exercise, medical experts say
- Dr Joseph Tsang says details of testing exercise should be clarified, adding that there is a lack of incentives for residents to declare their test results
- ‘Such large-scale epidemic measures should have an objective and have some impact on policies,’ says University of Hong Kong microbiologist Ho Pak-leung
Hong Kong medical experts have said incentives such as the easing of social-distancing curbs should be considered if the government wants to encourage residents to take part in a mass at-home Covid-19 testing exercise.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Thursday that residents might be asked to participate in the testing drive via rapid antigen test (RAT) kits set to be distributed from Saturday in order to help authorities better gauge the current epidemic situation.
But University of Hong Kong microbiologist Ho Pak-leung warned on Friday that the lack of clarity about what actions the government might take based on the results of the exercise could lead to confusion.
“The government should explain clearly whether social-distancing measures will be tightened again on April 21 if many positive results are declared under the mass testing exercise, or whether some measures can be relaxed [if few cases are identified],” Ho told a radio programme.
Ho said he expected that 5 per cent of those who took part in the mass at-home testing would return a positive result, a figure he based on infections identified in recent overnight building lockdowns.
“Such large-scale epidemic measures should have an objective and have some impact on policies, as the government is not using the test to conduct academic research,” Ho added, urging authorities to launch a promotional campaign teaching residents how to use rapid tests correctly.