Hong Kong residents will all receive Covid rapid antigen tests and are urged to undertake them daily between April 8 and 10, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing Saturday.
The voluntary exercise does not replace authorities’ plan for a mandatory mass testing, Lam said. The government would distribute service kits to all households with rapid tests, masks and medical supplies, she said.
Hong Kong is expanding testing to try combat its worst outbreak of Covid, and among the world’s deadliest. While the daily case count has declined from a peak of more than 55,000 early last month, over 100 fatalities are recorded a day, mainly due to the under-vaccinated elderly.
Authorities reported 4,475 new cases Saturday and 116 deaths. Imported infections rose to 18, mainly as a result of flight bans being lifted from a number of countries, health officials said at a separate briefing Saturday.
