Omicron: mass Covid-19 testing not viable for Hong Kong, medical experts say, amid growing calls to deploy strategy against fifth wave
- Pro-establishment lawmakers at centre of appeals urging authorities to run universal community screening to uncover hidden chains of transmission
- But several experts say such exercises are not feasible because of capacity limitations and challenges tied to citywide lockdown
Pro-establishment lawmakers are among those appealing for citywide screening to cut off any hidden chains of transmission in the community, a strategy routinely deployed in mainland China since the health crisis emerged two years ago.
But local pandemic experts said Hong Kong would struggle to follow the mainland’s lead, with one government adviser pointing to testing capacity limitations in the city and the challenges associated with requiring everybody to stay at home during the exercise.
“The city’s daily testing capacity is about 100,000,” Professor David Hui Shu-cheong said. “If we want to implement universal testing, we may have to invite the mainland to assist.”
He added that large-scale testing would only be worthwhile if people did not leave their homes for the duration of the programme.
“If you allow citizens to move freely in the community, one-off testing is meaningless – getting tested negative today doesn’t mean they won’t get infected the other day,” Hui told a radio programme on Monday.
