Coronavirus: Hong Kong to hold ‘large-scale lockdown in second half of March’ but experts say exercise should be deferred until fifth wave peaks

Doing mass testing later would be more effective at firmly shutting down transmissions, they agreed, rather than in the middle of the wave. Doing it now would put an unmanageable burden on the system even with more resources for isolation facilities being planned and help being dispatched from mainland China.

Worse, it could also trigger more infections if people were kept in confined spaces or made to queue for long periods in crowded situations.

03:31

Bodies pile up at hospitals and mortuaries as Hong Kong records 34,466 new Covid-19 cases

Bodies pile up at hospitals and mortuaries as Hong Kong records 34,466 new Covid-19 cases

They gave the advice as the city’s Covid-19 crisis showed no signs of abating on Tuesday, with more than 32,500 new infections confirmed, pushing the overall tally of cases to 238,377. The death toll rose to 1,023 after another 172 patients, aged between 47 and 102, succumbed.

A team of experts at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) expects the fifth wave to continue to worsen, peaking “in the coming week or so” at nearly 183,000 infections per day, although officials are only likely to be able to confirm 35,121 cases. They were among those who said it might be wiser to hold off on universal testing until case counts began to fall.

On his second day in Hong Kong, Dr Liang Wannian, leader of the National Health Commission’s Covid Response Expert Team and the highest-ranking mainland health official to visit the city to help tackle the spiralling outbreak, said the situation remained severe.

“Overall, Hong Kong’s epidemic situation is rather severe and complicated,” Liang said after a full-day meeting with local health officials. “There is a big challenge in the health care and medical treatment systems.”