Hong Kong’s Lam Urges Virus Tests Despite Public Skepticism
Hong Kong’s Lam Urges Virus Tests Despite Public Skepticism
(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam encouraged the city’s more than 7 million citizens to get tested for Covid-19 as part of a new mass testing drive, despite low official registrations.
Lam appealed to the public “to participate as far as possible,” at a weekly briefing Tuesday before a meeting of her Executive Council. She said the large-scale testing would help people understand that the screening “isn’t as painful or as difficult as they imagine.”
Lam has been forced to defend the mass testing exercise from criticism in a political environment soured by mistrust following months of pro-democracy protests, the implementation of a new national security law and activists’ fears that virus measures were being used to curtail their ability to demonstrate.
So far around 593,000 people have registered online for testing, Secretary for Civil Services Patrick Nip told RTHK.
Lam said more than 10,000 people had already been screened via the testing drive, the first of its kind outside mainland China. Lasting up to two weeks, it entitles citizens to a free, one-time test and is on a voluntary basis -- though the government has urged participation.
Critics have alleged the universal testing plan backed by China was an attempt to harvest residents’ DNA -- and that it came too late to do much good, as a third wave of virus cases tails off.
The city’s Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, comprised of health care workers, is among the groups that have called for a boycott. The same union initiated a five day strike in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in February, demanding a full border closure with the mainland.
“They should embrace their professional expertise and urge the public not to turn their back on the program,” Lam said of the alliance, “because the program will be beneficial to the community and the HA as a whole.”
The financial hub reported just nine new coronavirus cases on Monday, as it starts lifting strict social distancing measures enacted to ward off a dwindling wave of infections. Two of the cases were imported.
Authorities last week relaxed social distancing rules to allow evening dining at restaurants and the removal of masks during outdoor exercise.
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