Health authorities reported 1,272 new infections on Wednesday, 734 of which were confirmed via nucleic acid tests and 538 by people taking at-home rapid antigen tests (RAT). The number of cases was the lowest since February 10, when 986 were confirmed. Officials also reported 62 deaths related to Covid-19.

Officials also revealed they would give out free rapid test kits to residents aged 60 or above from next Tuesday until May 31 as part of a campaign to encourage the elderly to screen themselves more often.

The distribution programme was announced hours after Lam rejected calls for the government to offer free test kits to all students, citing public finance reasons. Pupils will be required to screen themselves daily before attending classes when in-person learning resumes in phases after the Easter holidays.

Lam said that the government had achieved its goal of familiarising the public with RAT via Hong Kong’s mass voluntary Covid-19 screening exercise, which ran for three days and ended on Sunday, though it remains unclear how many people took part.

Going forward, Lam said, certain groups of people would be required to do daily rapid tests, such as university entrance exam takers and other students, teachers and those involved in higher-risk activities.

According to Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, mask-off activities and gatherings that involved many people were deemed high-risk.

“It is possible we will announce the specific details tomorrow, and those participating in these higher-risk activities will also be required to take a rapid antigen test,” she said.

In the first phase, gyms, game centres, beauty salons, massage parlours, religious places and sport venues will be allowed to reopen, though groups will be capped at four people.

Restaurants will be allowed to offer dine-in service until 10pm, up from 6pm currently, with four diners allowed per table, up from two. Bars, however, will have to remain closed.

Undersecretary for Food and Health Dr Chui Tak-yi noted that the free tests for the elderly would be given out to about 680 different locations, including government health centres, elderly care centres and Chinese medicine clinics.

“Elderly people have been hit hard during the fifth wave of infections,” Chui said. “Currently, there are oral Covid drugs available. They are effective in treating patients if they are provided in the early stages of the illness.

“With social-distancing rules starting to ease, elderly people should do rapid tests more often, allowing early detection and early treatment.”

While the government said it would distribute millions of free kits to local schools, Lam noted that they should be reserved for those in need in order to preserve public resources.

Lam on Wednesday defended the government’s plan to require students to conduct daily rapid coronavirus tests when classes resume later this month. Some parents and educators had questioned if the measure was necessary, and urged the government to give out free test kits to all pupils.

The government has said it will distribute millions of free kits to local schools, but Lam said those should be reserved for those in need in order to preserve public resources.

“I hope people will not oppose this principle,” she said. “If everything is supplied by the government for free for everyone, that will have an impact on the government’s financial position, which will ultimately affect the public.”

She added that families could still head down to the 89 distribution centres handing out anti-epidemic packs to pick more free test kits until Wednesday, with no questions asked.

She noted that the daily testing requirement would be reviewed after several weeks.

Meanwhile, Lam also said that the government would release 5,500 public and transitional housing units previously set aside as isolation facilities for Covid-19 patients, returning them to their intended purpose of accommodating families in need.

She explained that in recent months the city had increased its isolation capacity by working with mainland authorities to build makeshift facilities and enlisting the help of the hotel industry. As the number of confirmed cases had gone down significantly, the housing units were no longer needed for coronavirus patients.

“We have built up a very good stock of facilities,” she said. “Some of these projects, in Kai Tak, Penny’s Bay and Lok Ma Chau, have not been completed yet. When completed, they will provide 30,000 beds, and we will have enough for us to cope with another wave.”

Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan said on Wednesday that the units in question were located at Queen’s Hill Estate in Fanling, Lai King Estate, and two transitional housing projects in Yuen Long.

Chan noted that setting aside the public and transitional housing units as isolation facilities had inconvenienced thousands of households waiting to move in, saying the government had given out HK$8,000 (US$1,020) payments to some 12,000 people as compensation.

Lam, meanwhile, said the city’s three-day voluntary testing drive had achieved its objectives – namely enabling the government to gauge the latest epidemic situation – and credited it with helping to identify cases among the more than 3,000 infections uncovered over the weekend, many of which were asymptomatic.

“If these cases were not identified, they could have infected others in the community,” she said.

But health officials have declined to label the exercise a success. The estimated 800 infections detected among people who had joined the testing scheme were part of the total tally of 3,128 confirmed cases over the three days.

Hong Kong’s tally of infections since the fifth wave began stood at 1,181,664, with 8,735 related deaths.

Dr Larry Lee Lap-yip, a chief manager at Hospital Authority, said 9,000 patients were still being treated in public healthcare facilities.

He noted that Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which was previously only treating infected residents, had started to receive other types of patients again.

“If there is any further rise in the number of Covid-19 patients, beds can be deployed readily. We will maintain [Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s] mobility as a designated hospital,” Lee said.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Council revealed it had received 240 complaints involving the purchase of RAT kits, mostly involving online retailers that were unable to deliver the products after payment or refused to give customers a refund.

“As the test kits are an important epidemic prevention tool, delayed delivery of the kits and the traders’ subsequent refusal to offer a refund would seriously impact on the consumer rights and anti-epidemic safeguard of the public,” the watchdog said.

Additional reporting by Ezra Cheung and Kathleen Magramo