January 20, 2023
HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Thursday urged people wishing to undergo COVID-19 nucleic acid testing to make an online booking in advance for a testing time slot at a community testing center or station (CTC/CTS) with more testing places.
People should also avoid going to busier CTC/CTSs without a booking so as to reduce their waiting time, the government said.
The government made the call Thursday afternoon, after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced the scrapping of the provision of isolation order for those who test positive for COVID-19 from Jan 30.
From the same date, people testing positive for the virus will no longer be required to submit their personal data through an online self-reporting platform.
To facilitate citizens who need to get tested, the government has published online the latest booking status of all testing centers and stations
In a statement issued in the evening, the government said the testing capacity is sufficient to meet the demand of cross-boundary passenger flows before the Lunar New Year.
To cater for citizens’ testing needs, manpower has been ramped up and more registration and swabbing booths have been set up at certain busier CTC/CTSs, it said.
The government reminded residents that testing centers and stations will accord priority for testing to individuals who have made a booking, and individual testing centers and stations will be busier in the evening.
To facilitate citizens who need to get tested, the government has published online the latest booking status of all testing centers and stations. It will also update from time to time the list of centers and stations with fewer users on the day on the CTC website.
A health worker is seen walking out of testing booth at the Maple Street Playground community testing station on Jan 19, 2023. (ANDY CHONG/ CHINA DAILY)
In the statement, the government also reminded people travelling to the mainland that they do not need to return to CTC/CTSs specifically for collecting paper form reports.
For the purpose of cross-boundary travel, electronic reports issued by testing institutions, and the self-paid nucleic acid testing electronic record available for download from the COVID-19 Electronic Testing Record System are also accepted for presentation and checking by relevant staff at boundary control points.