Hong Kong may postpone mass testing for Covid-19 until April

The long-awaited travel bubble with mainland China is off the cards for now due to new Covid-19 cases.

Hong Kong.- Hong Kong may delay mass testing for Covid-19 in order to focus on reducing deaths and caring for the elderly. The South China Morning Post has suggested that mass testing would be pointless as the country doesn’t have enough isolation facilities for the number of people who could test positive.

The chief executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, met with the Hong Kong Private Hospital Associations on Tuesday to discuss how to care for patients. Chinese authorities have made criticism for not doing enough.

Hong Kong has been slow to vaccinate its population. About 90 per cent of the population is now vaccinated with at least one dose, but coverage remains low among the elderly and the most vulnerable.

In January, Fitch Ratings Inc predicted a travel bubble between Hong Kong and China could be launched in the following months, and Macau has said that it could then follow with a similar arrangement. However, that seems to be off the cards for now.