Mainland health experts visit Hong Kong's anti-epidemic community facilities

HONG KONG, March 5 (Xinhua) -- A team of mainland health experts led by Liang Wannian, head of the COVID-19 response expert panel under China's National Health Commission, on Saturday visited Hong Kong's anti-epidemic facilities in communities to learn about local testing, isolation, and treatment.

Their stops included a community testing center at To Kwa Wan Sports Center and a community isolation facility (CIF) in Tsing Yi, which started admitting COVID-19 patients on March 1 after being built in one week with support from the mainland.

The mainland health experts sent to Hong Kong so far have helped the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government strengthen the measures of "early detection, early isolation and early treatment," said Secretary for Food and Health of the HKSAR government Sophia Chan, who accompanied Liang on Saturday's visit.

The team led by Liang arrived in Hong Kong on Feb. 28 and includes five experts. It is the third expert team sent by the central government to support Hong Kong's epidemic battle against a raging fifth wave of infections.

The HKSAR reported 37,529 new COVID-19 cases and 150 deaths on Saturday, official data showed.

A spokesperson for the HKSAR government on Saturday said the HKSAR government will firmly assume the main responsibility to fight the epidemic, and its various bureaux and departments will pull together to tame and control the outbreak as soon as possible.