A medical professional puts on a pair of gloves at a makeshift testing site in the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong, Sept 1, 2020. (ANTHONY KWAN / POOL PHOTO VIA AP)

HONG KONG - The universal community testing program is crucial for Hong Kong to quell the pandemic and its result will be a key indicator for the authorities to decide whether to relax anti-epidemic measures, leading medical experts in the city said on Thursday.

Leading microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung and pediatrician Lam Ching-choi made the remarks as six COVID-19 cases were found among the 128,000 local residents tested since the program’s launch on Tuesday.

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Yuen said the testing is crucial for the local authorities to decide whether to relax social distancing measures, or to ease restrictions on the cross-boundary movement of people, which greatly affects residents’ livelihoods.

Dismissing claims about the cost-effectiveness of the program, Yuen, chair of infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong, said the emphasis should not be simply placed on the test positivity rate. 

Yuen described the citywide mass testing as significant in the field of epidemiology, “because as long as there is a  ‘silent carrier’ in the community, the consequence can still be very serious”. Yuen added that the individual can still transmit the disease to others by taking public transport or having a meal in a restaurant.

There have been international cases showing that an asymptomatic patient can be a super-spreader, which might lead to (a) large-scale community outbreak.

Lam Ching-choi, pediatrician 

With a declining number of new coronavirus cases, Yuen still encouraged residents to take part in the program despite he understands some residents’ may have reduced incentive to join.

He said the city did not have the capacity to conduct such large-scale virus testing a month ago, but with the aid of mainland medical experts, the testing program was made possible. “Everything is all set up and ready, why don’t we make good use of the opportunity,” Yuen said.

Executive councillor and doctor Lam Ching-choi also acknowledged the importance of the community testing program. “There have been international cases showing that an asymptomatic patient can be a super-spreader, which might lead to (a) large-scale community outbreak,” Lam said. 

Universal testing is a great warm-up for the city to combat a possible fourth or fifth wave of COVID-19 during winter. “If the outbreak happens again, we could conduct the testing rapidly and contain the pandemic,” Lam said.

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Lam added that the city has gained valuable experience in implementing the community testing program, especially in the recruitment of medical professionals, logistics as well as finding suitable testing venues.

Gabriel Leung Cheuk-wai, the dean of HKU's medicine faculty, said the current test positivity rate strongly matched the deduced results from virological and epidemiological data.

Leung estimated that if every resident participated in the program, around 500 people would test positive, and 280 of them would be infectious. He urged residents to take part in the voluntary testing.

On Wednesday, a third batch of the 200-strong mainland medical expert team, with members from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Fujian province, arrived in Hong Kong. There are now approximately 420 mainland medical experts in the city to help with its anti-pandemic work.