Hong Kong third wave: city’s top officials unite behind universal Covid-19 testing scheme even as some in opposition camp hope to derail it

Officials drum up support for programme, to start September 1, assuring public of data privacy and urging residents to put aside bias and distrust

But even as city government presented a united front, some opposition councillors were handing out leaflets arguing it was a waste of funds

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Hong Kong police conduct inspections in Tsuen Wan, asking foreign domestic workers to comply with ongoing Covid-19 social distancing measures. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 1:55pm, 23 Aug 2020Updated: 11:31pm, 23 Aug 2020

Hong Kong’s top officials were racing to convince the public of the citywide coronavirus testing scheme’s necessity amid increasing pushback from some quarters on Sunday, as health authorities quarantined about 95 staff and residents of a care home for the mentally disabled where three employees were found to be infected.

In all, the city reported 25 new Covid-19 infections for the day, pushing the tally of confirmed cases to 4,682, with 77 related deaths. While it marked the 21st straight day with fewer than 100 infections, medical experts said the figure was not dropping fast enough, meaning residents should take part in the universal testing scheme that starts on September 1 so asymptomatic patients can be identified.

On Sunday, the city’s No 2 official, Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, health minister Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee and Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po used their blogs to appeal to the public to take part in the programme. Civil service minister Patrick Nip Tak-kuen appeared on a television programme to do the same, saying 3,000 medical professionals had already signed up to run the scheme.

But as they made their case, several opposition district councillors, including Tsuen Wan’s Roy Tam Hoi-pong and Sai Kung’s Gary Fan Kwok-wai, were handing out fliers outside the Tin Hau MTR station, urging residents not to take part in the programme, arguing it was not cost effective.

They pledged to mobilise more district councillors to set up street booths in coming days to push against the testing, expressing concerns that participants’ DNA data would be sent across the border – fears local authorities have repeatedly rejected.

Despite the government’s efforts, critics such as Dr Alfred Wong Yam-hong from doctors’ concern group Medecins Inspires have been sceptical of the scheme. Wong said if a test returned a false positive, it would inflict unnecessary stress on the person taking it.