Coronavirus: 4,000-strong Hong Kong police squad gears up to help in mass screening exercise, with officers in protective gear, goggles, masks and gloves
- Officers likely to escort infected patients to hospitals or isolation facilities, enforce lockdowns
- Manpower-strapped police force not spared by Omicron, with hundreds of officers testing positive
The Hong Kong Police Force is ready to mobilise its anti-riot squad to help in the city’s mass Covid-19 screening exercise aimed at disrupting the surging fifth wave of infections, the Post has learned.
Force insiders said about 4,000 officers – two-thirds of the 6,000-strong squad – would be ready to be deployed in the second half of this month.
Although their exact duties had not yet been spelt out, a source said they might be assigned to escort infected patients to hospital or community isolation facilities, and enforce lockdowns in sites where residents had to stay at home until they were tested.
Given that only about 12 per cent of officers in the anti-riot squad were women, he said the force was considering whether to assign other female officers for the pandemic exercise.
Hong Kong’s mass Covid-19 screening drive is expected to begin on March 26. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has said that the entire population must undergo three mandatory tests.
The current wave of infections pushed the number of daily cases from hundreds in the first week of last month to 37,529 on Saturday, the first time since Tuesday the figure has dropped below 40,000. Another 150 Covid-19 patients died in the past 24 hours.
As they could face the risk of infection, the force was studying whether to house them in temporary accommodation for the duration of the mass screening exercise.