Hong Kong will offer universal, voluntary coronavirus testing for all citizens, the city’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced Friday.
Lam said she hoped the testing scheme would launch in two weeks time.
“This is an entirely voluntary program to provide testing for those who want to have a test either to find out whether they are infected or they just want to be more sure that they are safe in that sense,” Lam said.
“The new coronavirus pandemic is still severe. The overall number is still high.”
Hong Kong officials have moved to contain a third wave of the virus, as cases continue to rise across the city.
Officials requested support from Beijing in late July to help increase its virus detection capability and its community treatment resources, Lam said Friday.
Sitting in front of backdrop reading “Fight the Virus with Central Government’s Full Support,” Lam added that Hong Kong will build an additional temporary hospital near the city’s Asia World-Expo treatment center.
A new testing lab will also be built at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre, in an effort to ease pressure on hospitals.
Hong Kong confirmed 89 new cases of Covid-19 in the city on Friday, bringing its total number of confirmed cases to 3,939.
The city has been reporting between 80 and 95 cases daily since Monday this week.
