Coronavirus: Hong Kong to open four new testing centres starting in November, health minister says; three new cases confirmed
- The testing facilities will be located in Quarry Bay, Yau Ma Tei, Sha Tin and Yuen Long, and operate seven days a week, Sophia Chan says
- Three new infections recorded on Saturday involved arrivals from Germany, Japan and Pakistan
The latest cases – involving an aircrew member from Japan and two others from Germany and Pakistan – pushed the city’s tally to 5,323, with 105 related deaths.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor named the centres on Tuesday but did not say when they would begin operations. Health minister Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee revealed on Saturday that the facilities would be housed in community centres in Quarry Bay, Yau Ma Tei, Sha Tin and Yuen Long. They will be open from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, with the government outsourcing the testing to private firms.
Residents deemed at high risk can be screened for free while those requiring a negative test result to travel will have to pay.
Asked whether the cost could be lowered, Chan said the government had been discussing the matter with laboratories.
“We hope after the government has provided venues and assistance, the labs will be willing to lower the costs,” she said.
The Food and Health Bureau said further details on the testing centres would be announced in due course.
Chan also said a plan exempting Hongkongers living in mainland China from quarantine when they returned to the city would begin from the next month. That came as a 44-year-old man, who was exempted from quarantine under existing rules, was among the confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday, 24 days after his return from the mainland.