Hong Kong Will Require 7.4 Million Residents To Undergo Mandatory COVID-19 Testing Starting Next Month

JAKARTA - Hong Kong will roll out mandatory COVID-19 testing for its 7.4 million residents from mid-March, authority leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday, as university researchers estimate new infections could peak at up to 180.000 cases per day next month.

Strict coronavirus rules will be in place until mid-April, with schools closed early for the summer and restarting the new year in August, he said, as authorities battle the "exponential" increase in infections that has overwhelmed the health care system.

Hong Kong is home to some of the most populous districts in the world, with the majority of people living in high-rise apartments facing each other with family members, often sharing cramped elevators.

"The next one to three months are very important in fighting the pandemic," Lam told a news conference.

Residents need to test three times under a mandatory testing scheme with a daily testing capacity of up to one million. Places including school campuses could be used for testing and isolation, he said.

The measures are the toughest to implement, two years after the pandemic in the global financial hub.

Lam reiterated Hong Kong's 'zero dynamic COVID-19' strategy similar to that of mainland China, aiming to eradicate any outbreak at all costs. He repeatedly thanked mainland authorities for their 'loyal support'.

He said authorities were not considering a city-wide lockdown, as was the case in mainland China. However, the central government will help build a temporary hospital.

Health authorities in the former British colony reported 6.211 new cases, 32 deaths, and another 9.369 cases who tested positive in initial tests. They say the backlog is in testing, meaning they can't get the full picture.

In a paper titled 'Modeling the fifth wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong', researchers at the University of Hong Kong said they updated their February 10 study to show the daily death toll could potentially peak near 100 by the end of March, and cumulative deaths could potentially rise to around 3.206 in mid-May.

Less than two weeks ago, the same researchers had expected daily infections to potentially peak at around 28,000 by mid-March, for a total of 954 deaths by the end of June.

In the absence of much more intensive social distancing measures, such as city-wide lockdowns, "the trajectory of the fifth wave is unlikely to change substantially from its current path", the study said.

Hong Kong has reported that since early February, daily infections have jumped by about 70-fold, exceeding the government's testing, hospital and quarantine capacities, due to efforts to contain the virus.

So far, Hong Kong already has some of the toughest rules in the world to curb COVID-19. Strict restrictions mean very few flights can land, while most transit passengers are barred.

Lam said the flight bans from nine countries including the United States and Britain would remain in effect until April 20 with other countries potentially being added to the list. Gatherings of more than two people are prohibited and most places, including schools, gyms, and beauty salons, are closed.

The July-August holiday for schools that carry out online learning has been moved forward to March-April. Lam said she hopes face-to-face classes can take place from April, with the new school year starting as usual in August.

The restrictions, which were first imposed in 2020, are testing residents' patience, as exhaustion and anxiety emerge with businesses across the city yet to recover from the shutdown.

Lam said the city's vaccination rate should hit around 90% for a single dose by March, up from about 86% currently.

"Stay confident and we'll see a rainbow," said Lam.

To note, the study anticipates the number of infected people in 7-day isolation could potentially reach more than 600,000, while the number of close contacts in seven-day quarantine could reach 1.8 million, causing substantial disruption in the community.