Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor tours the temporary air-inflated laboratory at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre after attending a ceremony to welcome the arrival of mainland nucleic acid test support team, Hong Kong, on Aug 28, 2020. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said a citywide COVID-19 testing program to be rolled out next week is "safe, convenient and speedy", and appealed to members of the public to participate.

Her comments came as a total of 141 temporary testing centers are in place and more than 6,000 medical professionals are ready to support the coronavirus testing program that starts on Sept 1.

The temporary swab collection sites are set up at stadiums, schools and community halls across the city’s 18 districts, with strict anti-infection measures in place, Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said at a press conference.

Seven healthcare professionals from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday, joining 60 other mainland doctors and nurses who had arrived earlier to help with the testing, which may involve millions of people.

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At a ceremony to welcome the arrival of a mainland nucleic acid test support team at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre on Friday, Lam again expressed gratitude to the central government for assisting the city in its epidemic fight.

"It (the central government) cares about the safety and health of the Hong Kong people and has given a clear and positive response to the specific requests made by the HKSAR government," Lam said.

"The testing is safe, convenient and speedy with full protection of privacy. I appeal to everyone to participate," she added.

Lam then inspected the temporary air-inflated laboratories at the center to learn about the facilities, the testing procedures and the workflow.

The testing program is open to online bookings from Saturday.

It is scheduled to run for seven days and may be extended for no more than one week subject to the progress, said a government spokesman in a press release issued Friday.

The spokesman said all the tests will be conducted in Hong Kong. Specimens involved will not be transported outside Hong Kong and will be destroyed after testing, the spokesman said.

Nip urged Hong Kong residents, especially high-risk groups including elderly people and domestic helpers, to register for the test, which is free and voluntary.

The government will also remind employers to encourage their employees to get tested, Nip said.

READ MORE: Residents urged to take virus test

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said more than 420,000 samples from high-risk groups have been tested, and 83 turned out positive for the novel coronavirus.