Coronavirus: Hong Kong civil servants could soon face stepped-up testing, vaccine booster shot incentives

Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip says private sector should follow suit as city pushes to up its vaccination rates

Hong Kong confirms one imported Covid-19 infection, involving a 56-year-old traveller from Britain

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Civil servants who opt to take a vaccine booster shot are likely to get a day off work in return, Patrick Nip said on Sunday. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 2:40pm, 7 Nov 2021Updated: 8:24am, 8 Nov 2021

Unvaccinated civil servants could soon face weekly Covid-19 testing, while their inoculated colleagues might be offered incentives to take a booster jab, a senior Hong Kong official revealed on Sunday as he called for the private sector to follow suit.

Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said having 70 per cent of the population vaccinated with at least one shot – the threshold for achieving herd immunity – remained the administration’s target.

He said more than 70 per cent of residents aged between 20 and 59 were vaccinated. “If we want to boost the vaccination rate, we might have to increase the testing frequency for unvaccinated civil servants,” Nip told a television programme.

At present, unvaccinated civil servants are required to take a test every two weeks.

Hong Kong confirmed one imported coronavirus case on Sunday, a 56-year-old man who arrived from Britain on November 1 and was found to be carrying the L452R mutant strain of the virus. The infection took the city’s overall tally to 12,368, with 213 related deaths. Fewer than five people tested preliminary-positive.