City-wide COVID-19 testing extended as 2 returnees from PH test positive

September 4, 2020

High-risk groups will have to undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing starting today. (SCREENSHOT: isd.gov.hk)

Hong Kong will extend its mass coronavirus testing program until Sept. 11 as government officials cite high public demand with over 950,000 people booked for appointments.

The total number of booked tests since Aug. 29 is around 12.6% of the total population of the city.

Eight had tested positive so far from samples collected through mass testing — four were from recently-discharged COVID-19 patients.

The remaining four, whose source of infection could not be traced, are part the city’s daily tally of 12 cases. Two of them were detected yesterday: a 63-year-old man from Kwai Tsing and a 22-year-old woman.

The other two were a 67-year-old female who frequented the Yau Ma Tei market and a 46-year-old woman from Fanling who developed a fever the day after she got tested. The latter’s husband also developed a fever and yielded a preliminary positive test result.

Two returnees from the Philippines, who boarded Cathay Pacific CX906, also tested positive for COVID-19.

They are among the five imported cases, including an infant from Pakistan, an Indonesian domestic helper, and a Pakistani returnee.

Meanwhile, all guests and employees of Metro Park Hotel in Mong Kok will be tested after another person who stayed there tested positive. He lived on the same floor with two people who were confirmed cases, one of whom has died.

Hong Kong has recorded 4,850 cases of coronavirus infections to date, with 94 linked deaths.