Hong Kong to enforce mass testing amid predicted surge in Covid infections – The Peninsula Qatar

Hong Kong to enforce mass testing amid predicted surge in Covid infections – The Peninsula Qatar

Hong Kong: Hong Kong will roll out compulsory testing for Covid-19 starting in mid-March for its 7.4 million residents, leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday, as university researchers predicted new infections could peak at a staggering 180,000 a day next month.

Stringent coronavirus rules would be in place until mid-April with schools breaking early for summer and resuming the new year in August, she said, as authorities battle an "exponential" rise in infections which have overwhelmed the healthcare system.

Hong Kong is home to some of the most densely populated districts on Earth, with the majority of people living in high-rise apartment blocks cheek by jowl with family members and often sharing cramped lifts.

"The coming one to three months are crucial in fighting the pandemic," Lam told a press briefing.

Residents would need to test three times under the compulsory testing scheme with daily testing capacity reaching one million. Venues including school campuses could be used for testing and isolation, she said.

The measures are the most draconian to be implemented, two years into the pandemic in the global financial hub.

Lam reiterated the city's "dynamic zero COVID" strategy similar to mainland China, aiming to eradicate any outbreaks at all costs. She repeatedly thanked mainland