Hong Kong is stepping up efforts to root out COVID-19 cases, with plans to mass test the entire city and fine those who refuse, according to local media, deploying tactics used on the mainland as the financial hub faces its most challenging outbreak yet.
Chinese medical workers will be brought in to test 1 million residents a day, with those who resist subject to a 10,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1,280) fine, Sing Tao Daily said late Wednesday, citing people it didn’t identify. HK01 said the citywide testing will begin in early March and be conducted once a week for three weeks, though Hong Kong and the mainland are still discussing details, according to the report.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the city of about 7.5 million people to take "all necessary measures” to contain COVID-19 in the city, as the widening outbreak — which came after months virus-free — undermines China’s zero-tolerance approach to keeping the pathogen out. While other parts of the world start to live alongside COVID-19, Beijing is continuing to pursue elimination, with mass and frequent testing in outbreak areas a key tool in an arsenal that also includes tight border controls and lengthy mandatory quarantines.