【China daily】Lab's daily testing capacity surpasses 200k

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam ChengYuet-ngor (2nd left) visits the Huo-Yan Laboratory at Sun Yat Sen Memorial ParkSports Center in Hong Kong, Aug 28, 2020. (LIU SIU WAI / XINHUA)

HONG KONG - A Chinese mainland expertworking for Hong Kong’s citywide virus testing program revealed onTuesday that the newly-built Huo-Yan Laboratory could process more than 200,000samples a day, as he encouraged more residents to join the project, which aimsto cut the invisible transmission chain. 

Guo Penghao, deputy head of a support teamfrom Guangdong province, said that the testing capacity meets the needs of theUniversal Community Testing Programme. On Tuesday, around 113,000 people tookthe free, voluntary test. 

As of Tuesday, the program had revealed atleast 18 infections among the 1.2 million people tested. Guo said theparticipation rate is satisfactory, and identifying silent carriers can helpblock the invisible transmission chain in the community.

ALSO READ: CE urges residents to walk in for testing as participationrises

Guo, technologist-in-charge at the FirstAffiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, arrived in HongKong on Aug 2. He is among 427 mainland technicians helping the city increaseits testing capacity to cope with a third wave of the outbreak.

Inside the temporary laboratory at the SunYat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre on Hong Kong Island, the mainland team,together with about 200 Hong Kong technicians, work in three shifts to keep thelab running 24/7. 

According to Guo, many of the technicianshad to work 12 hours a day to complete the tests before the last 117 supportteam members arrived on Thursday.

After more than a month of cooperation, Guopraised the Hong Kong government officials in charge of pandemic control as“excellent”, and said the authorities had made huge efforts to get the masstesting off the ground.

To contain the surge in infections in thecity in July, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor soughtassistance from the central government to enhance the virus testing capacityand set up community treatment facilities. 

Ahead of the launch of the mass testing onSept 1, the government arranged 141 temporary testing centers across the city,and recruited more than 6,000 medical professionals and 4,000 current orretired civil servants to help with the program.

Hong Kong on Tuesday recorded six newcases, the lowest daily tally during its third wave of infections. Two of thethree new local cases were detected by the testing program.

READ MORE: HK reports lowest increase in virus cases since early July

Lam urged residents to participate in theCOVID-19 testing program, saying that residents are welcome to walk in withoutregistration.

Secretary for Commerce and EconomicDevelopment Edward Yau Tang-wah on Tuesday also said residents’ participationin the testing is helpful for building up global confidence in Hong Kong’spandemic control.

According to Yau, the government is intalks about opening a “travel bubble” with 11 countries once the virus iscontained. These include Australia, France, Germany, Japan and Malaysia.

mollychen@chinadailyhk.com

报道连接：http://www.chinadailyhk.com/article/142623#Lab's-daily-testing-capacity-surpasses-200k

日期：2020-09-09