Coronavirus: Hong Kong leader sets out target of zero infections with community testing, as city confirms 85 new cases
- Government could implement large-scale universal community testing again in a bid to achieve the target, Carrie Lam says
- Seven-day ban on bars, nightclubs and bath houses kicks in on Thursday, but dance studios are allowed to continue operating
The city also logged about 60 preliminarily positive cases.
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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam delivers 2020 policy address
About 5,000 people linked to the cluster had already been tested, health officials said.
Sixteen local confirmed cases were untraceable – the highest recorded since August 8 – while one was imported from Britain.
“On breaking the virus transmission chain in the community, we mandate high-risk groups to undergo virus tests, and will provide voluntary virus testing service for people without symptoms on a wider scale, or may even implement large-scale universal community testing again in a bid to achieve the target of ‘zero transmission’,” Lam said in her address.
On whether such community testing would be mandatory, Lam told a subsequent press briefing that it would be more realistic and effective to conduct compulsory tests on targeted clusters or communities.