The Hong Kong Government yesterday exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J).
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That is to make a "restriction-testing declaration" effective from 5pm yesterday, under which people within the specified "restricted area" in Yuen Long (i.e. Heng Fu House, Tin Heng Estate, Yuen Long, excluding the Tin Shui Wai Alliance Kindergarten on ground floor) were required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing.
Persons subject to compulsory testing are required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the "restricted area" have undergone testing and the test results are mostly ascertained.
In addition, the Government issued a compulsory testing notice yesterday to any person who had been present at the above building for more than two hours from February 15 to February 28, 2022, even if they were not present in the "restricted area" at the time when the declaration took effect, must undergo compulsory testing on or before March 2, 2022.
As a mutant strain is involved, for prudence's sake, vaccinated persons and persons who have recently been tested are also required to undergo testing.
The Government finished the compulsory testing exercise at around 1.45pm today and is now carrying out enforcement actions in the "restricted area" to verify that all people in the "restricted area" have undergone compulsory testing. The Government will further announce the revocation time of the declaration.
Starting from around 1.45pm today, persons in the specified "restricted area" in Yuen Long who have undergone testing and are able to present SMS notifications with negative test results as proof of having undergone testing may leave the "restricted area" through the designated exit after providing personal information to a prescribed officer.
The Government set up temporary specimen collection stations in the "restricted area" yesterday and requested persons subject to compulsory testing to collect combined nasal and throat swab samples at the stations to undergo a COVID-19 virus test before 10.30pm yesterday.
A total of about 1 880 persons had undergone testing. Amongst them, 295 tested preliminarily positive cases and four indeterminate cases were found and the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health will take follow-up action.
Regarding cases tested preliminarily positive in the specified "restricted area", the Government will provide health advice for persons tested preliminarily positive pending admission to hospitals or isolation facilities and disinfection products to these persons and their household members pending follow-up arrangement.
Moreover, the Government also assigned staff to visit about 640 households, among which 52 households did not answer the door. The Government will take measures to follow up.
The Government reiterates that enforcement actions will be taken seriously.
Any person who fails to present an SMS notification with a test result as proof of having undergone testing breaches the compulsory testing notice and may be liable to a fine of $10,000. The person will also be issued with a compulsory testing order, requiring him/her to undergo testing within a specified time frame.
Failure to comply with the compulsory testing order or the "restriction-testing declaration" is an offence and the offender may be liable to a fine of level 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months.
a team of experts at the University of Hong Kong suggested on Tuesday that it might be wiser to hold off on the push until case counts began to come down, as their latest modelling of the pandemic indicated 1.7 million people had contracted the coronavirus since the fifth wave began – roughly nine times as many as have been reported. ■