(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong residents will all receive Covid rapid antigen tests and are urged to undertake them daily between April 8 and 10, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing Saturday.
The voluntary exercise does not replace authorities' plan for a mandatory mass testing, Lam said. The government would distribute service kits to all households with rapid tests, masks and medical supplies, she said.
Hong Kong is expanding testing to try combat its worst outbreak of Covid, and among the world's deadliest. While the daily case count has declined from a peak of more than 55,000 early last month, over 100 fatalities are recorded a day, mainly due to the under-vaccinated elderly.
Authorities reported 4,475 new cases Saturday and 116 deaths. Imported infections rose to 18, mainly as a result of flight bans being lifted from a number of countries, health officials said at a separate briefing Saturday.
Hong Kong Retail Sales Plunge 14.6% as Covid Restrictions Bite
The chief executive declined to clarify or confirm reports that she visited Shenzhen on Friday to meet senior mainland officials. The South China Morning Post cited unidentified people as saying Lam departed Friday morning to meet Xia Baolong, the top Chinese official in charge of Hong Kong affairs, to discuss the May 8 leadership election and pandemic work.
Lam refused to answer questions about whether she would seek another term as chief executive. If the current downward trend of Covid cases continues, elections will take place as planned and the government will do its best to hold them on the scheduled date, she said.
“The further we postpone the election, the more difficult it will be for the next chief executive,” Lam said.
The nomination period for the election is Sunday to April 16.
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