Household contacts will also receive an SMS to upload their details and download a quarantine order.

“Because the rapid antigen test is quite popular and easy to use … it gives a relatively sensitive result so it is a very good tool to be employed at home for early detection and early isolation to help curb the spread of disease in the community,” said Dr Edwin Tsui Lok-kin, controller of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP).

“It will also help the department to get more comprehensive and updated information on the current disease situation in Hong Kong.”

Alternatively, users can call the 1836 119 hotline and provide their phone and identity card numbers to register an infection, though officials said submitting information electronically was still fastest.

Health officials will also provide registered residents with electronic wristbands and an anti-epidemic pack, which includes masks, thermometers and rapid test kits. However, officials said it might take time in the early stages due to a high number of anticipated reports.

Those who were found to be positive via rapid tests between February 26 and March 5 can upload their results before March 14 for them to be valid.

All but 32 of the latest infections were locally transmitted. The city’s official tally stands at 496,767.

The Hospital Authority reported a record 161 fatalities in the past 24 hours, involving patients aged between 29 and 102. Of those, 126 had no vaccination records.

Another 119 people, aged 50 to 101, died earlier but the cases were only reported on Monday due to a backlog. The city’s Covid-related death toll is now 2,287.

The authority also announced that two children, aged four and eight, with underlying medical conditions, died on Monday morning. Both tested positive for Covid-19 and had received one dose of the Sinovac vaccine. Their cases have been referred to the coroner. Their deaths will be included in the authority’s figures on Tuesday.

As of Sunday night, 75 patients were critically ill, while 106 were in a serious condition.

Dr Libby Lee Ha-yun, the authority’s director of strategy and planning, said high-risk patients would be given priority admission to hospitals. They include those aged 70 and above, children under the age of five, women who are at least 28 weeks pregnant and immunocompromised patients.

She added that oral pills for treating the coronavirus would be available at 17 designated clinics from this month onwards, but authorities were still discussing how to prescribe them to patients and the side effects.

High-risk patients could also call 1836 115 for a doctor’s remote consultation, with 100 service lines currently available, she said.

Eighteen care homes – 11 for the aged and seven for the disabled – reported Covid-19 infections on Sunday, involving 69 residents and 43 staff.

Almost 85 per cent of care homes for the elderly, or 673 in total, have logged cases during the fifth wave, involving about 14,700 residents and 4,000 workers. Nearly two-thirds of homes for the disabled, or 220 facilities, have also had cases, with 4,350 residents and 1,600 staff infected.

Dr Albert Au Ka-wing of the CHP said the death rate of people who had received two or more doses of Covid-19 vaccine was 0.05 per cent, and 1.4 per cent for those who were unvaccinated or only had one jab.

For those aged 80 or above, the death rate was 1.86 per cent versus 9.49 per cent.

Priority will be given to those with mild or no symptoms, and to people whose homes are not suitable for isolation, according to security chief Chris Tang Ping-keung, who is overseeing their operation.

The department said it had received 8,091 applications on its platform as of 4pm, adding that at least 330 patients had been sent to community isolation facilities.

The CHP’s Tsui said the new hotline could help health authorities locate those who were required or preferred to go to isolation facilities.

“If they want to let us know earlier so that a more prompt referral can be made … the FSD can arrange the transferral,” he said, noting the fire services’ hotline was a “complementary measure” to the RAT platform.

The hotline’s launch came as occupancy rates remained low at some of the city’s recently opened isolation centres.

Five of the facilities – the Silka Far East Hotel, the Grand City Hotel, the Junior Police Call Permanent Activity Centre, the Cosmo Hotel Hong Kong and the Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre – were housing only 34 patients between them, or 4 per cent of their capacity, as of Sunday.

Hong Kong presently has 23 community isolation facilities for Covid-19 patients, including the long-standing one at Penny’s Bay, as well as ones more recently converted from hotel rooms and public housing blocks. Altogether, the facilities have 16,000 spots, with an overall occupancy rate of about 40 per cent.

Tang has previously denied the low occupancy rate was a result of government red tape or incompetence, saying it took time to clean a just-vacated room and arrange for the next occupant.

Meanwhile, two pro-government groups, Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link and Hong Kong Volunteers Federation, on Monday launched a volunteer alliance which they said would work with the authorities to fight the pandemic.

The launch came after Chinese President Xi Jinping last month told the government via two pro-Beijing newspapers to “mobilise all forces and resources” to bring the city’s surging fifth wave of infections under control as soon as possible.

Alliance chief convenor Bunny Chan Chung-bun said they had gathered nearly 10,000 people to provide support to care homes and medical staff, help promote vaccination among children, and distribute daily necessities to those under home quarantine.

Additional reporting by Cannix Yau and William Yiu