Hong Kong Leader Carrie Lam announces mass COVID-19 testing from September

On August 21, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said that mass testing for the novel coronavirus will begin from September 1. She further reportedly asked people not to be satisfied even with a dip in the number of cases. The testing team will consist of 60 people from the mainland. The total number of cases in Hong Kong have reportedly reached 4,632 with 75 casualties. 

Mass Covid-19 testing to begin in Hong Kong

According to the reports, this is the first time when Chinese health officials have assisted Asia's biggest financial hub in its battle against the novel coronavirus. Carrie Lam reportedly said that the testing will be voluntary and will take two weeks to complete. She added that there will be a 10-fold increase in order to boost the testing capacity in both the public and private sector. 

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Reports suggest that in order to battle the coronavirus, Hong Kong had banned gatherings of more than two people and the authorities also closed down restaurant dining. Wearing face masks in public places was made mandatory as Hong Kong authorities tried to be proactive in order to bring the coronavirus numbers down. When these measures were introduced, Hong Kong's Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung had said that they would last for a week. These measures came in effect from July 29 and for the first time, the authorities in Hong Kong banned dining in restaurants. Hong Kong in July had put a stop to dine-in services from 6 pm as concerns over the third wave of coronavirus grew in the region. The authorities at that time also complained of negligence on the part of the public as they became too casual about wearing masks.

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Local media reports suggested that hospital authorities were finding out about new cases faster than public hospitals could take them in. China's liaison office in Hong Kong had also said that their government would boost the city's capacity in terms of coronavirus testing. It also said that help would be given to set up hospitals especially for infected patients. Due to the ongoing pandemic, Legislative Council elections in Hong Kong, which were earlier supposed to occur on September 6, were rescheduled for September 5, 2021. On July 31, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the postponement of elections, citing an upsurge in COVID-19 cases. Lam invoked her emergency powers to reschedule the elections. 

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(Image Credits: AP)