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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’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
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.

03:07

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

The new infections on Monday pushed the tally to 4,971. A 77-year-old man died, taking the number of related fatalities to 101.

Before the mass screening started on September 1, health minister Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee said she expected 4 to 5 million people to participate. But Hong Kong’s leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, later said the government had not set a turnout target.

Last month, Lam estimated there were about 1,500 invisible Covid-19 carriers in the city of about 7.5 million people.

Medical experts said that while the programme had indeed identified some Covid-19 cases, it was not conducted at the best time as the number of infections had already fallen when the screening started. Another problem, they said, was that it took three to four days for participants to get their results so they could have been spreading the virus as they waited.

“There was a downward trend of cases [when the scheme started], and therefore fewer infections were identified,” said Professor David Hui Shu-cheong from Chinese University.

“The public also felt they had lower risk and thus fewer people went for the test.”

At a daily coronavirus briefing on Monday, the Centre for Health Protection’s Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan defended the scheme, saying: “The universal community testing programme can help us find some of the silent cases which otherwise may not be found … because some are asymptomatic and are not from the high-risk groups.”

Asked if the government would organise another mass screening, she said the scheme had been a one-off because it was not easy to organise such a large-scale testing programme.

“We have other venues, for example, the general outpatient clinics that are also distributing specimen bottles for those who want to get tested,” she added.

Before the programme started, opposition figures and some medical critics had cast doubts on its cost effectiveness and feared that participants’ data would be sent across the border, claims the authorities repeatedly rejected.

Qiu Hong, deputy head of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, said the motherland would always be Hong Kong’s strongest supporter. The city had to be able to defeat the outbreak and recover, she said.

06:14

Countries that haven't reported a single case of Covid-19 are still hit hard by the pandemic

Countries that haven't reported a single case of Covid-19 are still hit hard by the pandemic

Among the 14 new infections, two were imported: a domestic worker arriving from the Philippines and another woman from India. Three cases were of unknown origin.

Three new patients had dined at the Do Shing Restaurant in Tuen Mun regularly, sparking worries of a small outbreak linked to the eatery. Two of them, a couple, did not know the third patient.

More than 30 specimen bottles would be distributed to staff while the restaurant, which remained closed for now, would be sanitised.

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Respiratory medicine specialist Dr Leung Chi-chiu warned that the number of coronavirus cases in the city could rebound as civil servants and students returned to work and school.

He said the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday on October 1 might also lead to more people heading outside, following the relaxation of social-distancing measures.

“There appears to be a slight upwards trend in the number of cases [over] the past two days, perhaps caused by another wave of pandemic fatigue,” he told a morning radio show. “I think some people who received a negative result through the mass testing scheme have rushed out, particularly this past weekend.”

The reopening of schools may cause a rise in infection numbers, an expert says. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Leung said the next two weeks would be a “key turning point”, and added that with civil servants returning to their offices, and children going back to school, there could be an increase in infections between different families.

Simon Wong Ka-wo, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said the relaxation of social-distancing rules, which allowed public gatherings of up to four people, had helped the trade.

“Since Friday, business in the evening obviously picked up, increasing to about 80 per cent compared to before the pandemic, and even retail has been better,” Wong said. “Even areas in the New Territories have seen crowds.”

However, he noted the increase in numbers had also meant restaurants were taking fewer preventive measures. Not all restaurants managed to take temperatures for all their customers, while large groups separated into two tables would still talk to each other, he said.

“I hope businesses do not break the social-distancing rules just to make money before the pandemic is under control,” he said.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: testing scheme detects six more carriers on final day
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