Number of positive COVID-19 cases found in Hong Kong's mandatory tests on decline: Carrie Lam

HONG KONG, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam said on Monday that the positive COVID-19 cases found from mandatory tests in Hong Kong has shown a downward trend.

Lam told a press conference on Monday that the declining number of positive COVID-19 cases found via mandatory testing might be related to the fact that people who had previously been infected with the virus were exempted from mandatory tests.

The proportion of preliminary positive COVID-19 cases found in mandatory tests has continued to drop in recent weeks, in which two positive cases were found among 549 people tested in a mandatory testing operation that started on Sunday with a positivity rate of 0.4 percent, the lowest rate recorded so far, she said.

Lam stressed that as people who had been infected with the virus in the past three months do not have to be tested again, the declining number may not be 100 percent accurate.

Since the fifth wave of the pandemic, the HKSAR government has carried out 287 rounds of mandatory testing operations, Lam said, adding that the experience gained from the testing operations would be of reference value to the future implementation of mass mandatory COVID-19 testing.

Lam believes that an effect of universal screening can be achieved if rapid antigen tests were actively used by the public, calling on those who tested positive to actively report their test results to help the Department of Health learn about the situation.

Lam also said that the recent increase in the flow of people in Hong Kong is worrying, adding that while it is understandable to have anti-pandemic fatigue, the public should comply with measures so that the measures can be gradually relaxed in an orderly manner.

On Monday, Hong Kong registered 3,227 new COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid tests, and 4,458 additional positive cases through self-reported rapid antigen tests, official data showed.