‘I think I’ll get sick waiting like this’: Hongkongers bemoan long queues outside Covid-19 testing stations in Tuen Mun
- Residents ordered to undergo compulsory testing complain about long waiting times in the cold, lack of instructions from centre staff, despite seven more stations added
- Some who did not receive orders to get tested also head for screening amid concerns about spread of Omicron variant
Long queues continue to form outside Covid-19 testing stations in a Hong Kong district at risk of silent transmission chains of the Omicron coronavirus variant, despite more facilities being set up to ease waiting times for residents.
Seven more testing stations were added on Wednesday to the original three in Tuen Mun, after six Covid-19 positive cases were found to be living in the district.
Hundreds of residents who had visited areas in Tuen Mun where the confirmed cases had been to – a total of 18 such places since Monday – were ordered to undergo compulsory testing.
More than 600 people were already queuing up at 8am at Siu Lun Community Hall testing centre, while about 800 to 1,000 residents were seen at the playground outside the On Ting/Yau Oi Community Centre mobile specimen collection station at 11.15am.
An elderly man who gave his name as Hung said he had been waiting for a few hours outside the community centre.
“There are a lot of elderly coming here. It is an estate [with a lot of elderly residents]. Not everyone is young,” he told the media.
“I’ve been standing here for a few hours. My legs are weak and I have to do the test six times,” he added, referring to the requirement on the testing frequency for those who had visited the 18 places.
