The virus-testing program has become a flash point of political debate in Hong Kong, with many distrustful over resources and staff being provided by the China
Hong Kong began a voluntary mass-testing programme for coronavirus on Tuesday as part of a strategy to break the chain of transmission in the city’s third outbreak of the disease. The virus-testing programme has become a flash point of political debate in Hong Kong, with many distrustful over resources and staff being provided by the China’s central government and fears that the residents’ DNA could be collected during the exercise.
The Hong Kong government has dismissed such concerns, saying that no personal data will be attached to the specimen bottles and that samples will be destroyed in Hong Kong after the exercise. The testing programme began at 8 am with residents heading to more than 100 testing centres staffed by over 5,000 volunteers.
More than 500,000 people in the city of 7.5 million signed up in advance for the programme, which will last at least a week. It is aimed at identifying silent carriers of the virus those without symptoms who could be spreading the disease. The government expects 5 million people will take part in the programme, which could be extended to two weeks depending on demand. Hong Kong’s worst outbreak in early July was blamed in part on an exemption from quarantine requirements for airline staff, truck drivers from mainland China and sailors on cargo ships.
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