Government to amend compulsory testing list
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A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) said today (December 31), "To cut the transmission chain in the community as soon as possible, the Government exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) and issued a compulsory testing notice on December 30. If confirmed cases not epidemiologically linked to each other were found in two or more units in the same building in the past 14 days, persons who had been present at the relevant building in the past 14 days will have to undergo compulsory testing.
"Upon further checking by the Centre for Health Protection, it is noted that three buildings on the list do not fulfil the criteria of having confirmed cases not epidemiologically linked to each other in two or more units in the past 14 days. Accordingly, the Government would publish amendments to the relevant compulsory testing notice in the gazette and remove the three buildings from the compulsory testing list, extending apologies to members of the public for any inconvenience caused.
"Although the three buildings do not fulfil the criteria of compulsory testing, confirmed cases were recorded therein recently. Therefore, despite the removal of the buildings from the compulsory testing list, we still encourage the residents to undergo testing for effective and early identification of COVID-19 infected persons. The community testing centres will continue to provide free testing to persons who had been present at the relevant buildings."
The details of the three buildings removed from the compulsory testing list are as follows:
- Hiu Sing House, Hiu Lai Court, 21 Hiu Kwong Street, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- On Lam House, Tsui Lam Estate, 11 Tsui Lam Road, Sai Kung, New Territories, Hong Kong
- Wah Yan House, Ching Wah Court, 22 Tsing Chin Street, Tsing Yi, New Territories, Hong Kong
The amended compulsory testing list is at the Annex. Any person who had been present on any specified premises listed in the Annex for more than two hours at any time during the period from December 17 to December 30, 2020 (including but not limited to visitors, residents and workers), have to undergo testing by January 4, 2021. If persons subject to compulsory testing have previously undergone testing between December 28 and December 30, 2020, they would be taken to have complied with the requirements set out in the compulsory testing notices.
The spokesman said, "The Government urges all individuals who are in doubt about their own health conditions, or individuals with infection risks (such as individuals who visited places with epidemic outbreaks or contacted confirmed cases), to undergo testing promptly for early identification of infected persons. The FHB will publish compulsory testing notices regarding particular groups when necessary taking into account the epidemic developments and the testing participation rate."
Ends/Thursday, December 31, 2020
Issued at HKT 17:55
Issued at HKT 17:55
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