Image Source: Visual China
BEIJING, February 22 (TMTPOST) — Hong Kong will conduct mandatory Covid-19 mass testing for its residents in March to fight off the fifth wave of Covid-19 outbreak, the city’s chief executive Carrie Lam announced at a press release on Tuesday.
According to the chief executive, everyone in Hong Kong, a metropolis with a populaton of 7.4 millon, is required to undergo three rounds of testing over a period of 15 or 21 days. The testing schedule is based on residents’ birth years, meaning residents in Hong Kong will make testing appointments based on their birth year. Residents will be provided with KN95 masks and rapid testing kits to screen themselves between compulsory tests.
Residents who do not join the testing will face penalties, including fines. They can also be traced by disciplined services through their identity card numbers.
The city will set up hundreds of testing sites. Schools will be used as testing, isolation and vaccination venues after students leave their school for the summer holidays in early March until April 17.
Besides mass testing, Hong Kong has also announced a series of pandemic control measures, including strict social distancing, closure of high-risk premises such as bars, nightclubs and gyms. The city will not undergo a city-wide lockdown though some public services will be put on hold, according to the chief executive.
The chief executive of Hong Kong said that it is uncertain whether the ongoing wave of coronavirus outbreak will be curbed within two or three months since it is an unprecedented challenge. “We hope to make full use of the next two or three months because it is critical. We probably have not seen the peak of this wave,” Lam said.
Hong Kong is hit by a serious wave of coronavirus outbreaks. The city confirmed another record-high of 7,553 Covid-19 cases on Monday with an 11-month-old girl among the death cases.
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