HKSAR gov't continues to provide free COVID-19 testing service for elderly, targeted groups

HONG KONG, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The Food and Health Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced on Saturday that it continues to provide free COVID-19 nucleic acid testing service for eligible persons of high-risk or high-exposure targeted groups and all elderly people aged 60 or above.

The elderly can undergo free COVID-19 nucleic acid test with swab samples collected by professionals at around 100 community testing centers and mobile specimen collection stations in various districts of Hong Kong without the need for booking in advance, according to an official press release.

Meanwhile, the HKSAR government continues to conduct large-scale COVID-19 testing for staff of individual sectors under high-risk or high-exposure groups, in order to cut off transmission chains as quickly as possible and allow normal operation of the relevant industries.

The free testing arrangement is to achieve the goal of "early identification, early isolation and early treatment" and to enable more vulnerable infected elderly to seek timely medical attention and be prescribed with treatment drugs.

Moreover, the community testing centers continue to provide free voluntary nucleic acid testing service for staff members of residential care homes for the elderly, residential care homes for persons with disabilities and nursing homes who are fully vaccinated and personnel working in public markets and licensed hawkers.

On Saturday, Hong Kong registered 190 new COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid tests, and 173 additional cases through self-reported antigen rapid tests, official data showed.