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Hong Kong’s two-week mass testing scheme ends with at least 32 Covid-19 carriers identified overall

  • A total of 1.78 million people have been tested and the final number of carriers identified through the programme will be announced later this week
  • Centre for Health Protection says city registered 14 new coronavirus cases on Monday

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The final number of virus carriers found through the scheme will be announced later this week. Photo: Winson Wong
Hong Kong ended its two-week mass testing programme on Monday to report that at least 32 Covid-19 carriers had been identified overall among a quarter of the population who voluntarily took part, as some experts suggested the screening had not been as effective as hoped.
Hours before the Beijing-backed programme came to an end on Monday night, health authorities confirmed 14 new infections, six of them uncovered through the screening, prompting warnings of a possible resurgence of cases amid easing social-distancing rules and potential complacency.

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Hong Kong’s Covid-19 mass testing ends with at least 42 carriers found among 1.78 million people

Hong Kong’s Covid-19 mass testing ends with at least 42 carriers found among 1.78 million people

A total of 1.78 million people were tested and the final number of coronavirus carriers identified through the controversial programme will be announced later this week.

“Looking at the [turnout] after 14 days, I feel that it has met our target,” said Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, who was in charge of the scheme.

Now that the programme has ended, Nip said, the government will focus on testing high-risk groups.

Social-distancing rules have been eased. Photo: Bloomberg
Social-distancing rules have been eased. Photo: Bloomberg
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