When Chinese mainland virus testing technician Guo Haopeng arrived in Hong Kong on Aug 2, he was distressed to face a protest against his mission.
Guo, as deputy head of a support team from Guangdong province for Hong Kong’s Universal Community Testing Program, is co-leading a 400-plus-strong team to help the city boost its virus testing capacity under the program, which started on Sept 1 and has now been extended by three days to Sept 14.
The special administrative region is still battling the third wave of COVID-19 infections that struck in early July. More than 2,060 infections, accounting for 42.1 percent of the city’s total confirmed cases, were recorded in that month alone.
As long as we stick it out and believe that what we do is conducive to the health of Hong Kong residents and the community, we’ll soldier on with confidence and strength
Guo Haopeng,
Chinese mainland virus testing technician
Before Guo’s team arrived, Hong Kong could process up to 10,000 samples daily itself. But it fell short of the capacity needed to contain the third wave, described as the most serious since the first local confirmed case was reported earlier this year.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had written to the central government in late July seeking assistance, including boosting the daily virus testing capacity and setting up community treatment facilities.
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Guo was assigned the task in late July just after having returned to Guangzhou from Beijing, where he had led a team of about 20 people to help Beijing Tian Tan Hospital of Capital Medical University bring the city’s cluster of COVID-19 infections at the Xinfadi wholesale market under control. After the arrival of his team, the hospital’s daily testing capacity increased from 4,000 to 13,000 in one month.
Guo and a preliminary group of nine other members came to Hong Kong on Aug 2 as the vanguard of the supporting team. A group of local residents had gathered outside their hotel, not to welcome them, but to stage a protest.
“The very first words I heard when I arrived here were: ‘What do you think you could bring to Hong Kong?’” recalled Guo. The question came from a woman in a shrill tone.
“Those words hurt every member of our team to some degree,” said Guo.
Hong Kong’s citywide virus testing program, being conducted on a voluntary basis, has detected 19 infections of the coronavirus out of a total of around 1.27 million specimens collected under the program as of 8 pm on Wednesday.
“I think this is the answer to the question we were asked on the first day we arrived here,” said Guo.
“We’ve identified a few positive COVID-19 cases, which is very important in giving the community a better idea of how to fight the pandemic in order to cut off possible chains of transmission.”
READ MORE: Testing digs up 5 infections among HK's 11 new cases
Currently, 427 mainland technicians, handpicked from different hospitals and medical institutions in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, are working with 200 Hong Kong medical personnel at the Huo-Yan Laboratory set up at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre in Sai Ying Pun. The facility is capable of handling more than 200,000 samples a day.
Medical staff are busy with the testing work at the Huo-Yan Laboratory set up at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre in Sai Ying Pun. (PHOTO BY WILSON CHEN / CHINA DAILY)
Xia Yong, a technician from Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, showed China Daily his hands covered in adhesive bandages.
“I’ve to wear medical gloves six to eight hours a day. Our hands were soaked in sweat, and the skin at the joints fell off,” he said.
About 600 containers containing more than 100,000 samples are sent to the laboratory daily. For safety reasons, no extra hands were hired to help the technicians receive the containers or take them to the lab. They have to do all the manual work.
Outside the facility, all members of the mainland support team are currently under “closed management”. Shuttle buses take them from their hotel to the laboratory and then back.
“Such an arrangement is to protect the team members and the people of Hong Kong,” Guo explained.
When the team arrived, certain people claimed that the swabs to be used would hurt a person’s brain during the test, or their genetic samples would be sent to the mainland.
Guo said they’re aware that such rumors and smearing by a small minority of the Hong Kong community actually run counter to mainstream public opinion.
As medical workers, our responsibility and mission is to protect lives and people’s health. Moreover, the HKSAR is part of China. We, Chinese people, have this tradition of helping each other in times of difficulty.
Guo Haopeng
“As long as we stick it out and believe that what we do is conducive to the health of Hong Kong residents and the community, we’ll soldier on with confidence and strength,” he said.
READ MORE: Mainland medical experts fight COVID-19 in Hong Kong
The HKSAR government said the universal testing program will be extended until Monday, after which the team will return to the mainland to be quarantined for another 14 days before they can go home.
Although they have no time to see Hong Kong on this visit, Guo said he’s confident the opportunity will come when the local outbreak is brought under control, and travel and communications with the mainland resume. “We’ll certainly come and visit the place we’ve fought for,” he said.
Guo said he expects more Hong Kong residents to take part in the mass screening program to help further check the spread of the coronavirus, and bring the city and the economy back to normal.
But what he knows for sure is that if Hong Kong were to ask for help from the mainland again, the central government and the mainland technicians will not hesitate to come again and return to the front line.
“As medical workers, our responsibility and mission is to protect lives and people’s health. Moreover, the HKSAR is part of China. We, Chinese people, have this tradition of helping each other in times of difficulty,” said Guo.
Sherry Tang, a local resident who works in the engineering sector, said the mainland support team is a great inspiration to her. She believes it has brought not just technicians, but also anti-epidemic experience from the successful fight against COVID-19 on the mainland.
Tang has been separated from her family on the mainland since the SAR government required all visitors from the mainland to be quarantined for 14 days from Feb 8. The measure has been extended to Oct 7.
But she thinks the separation won’t last long. “This time is different. Our strong backing is here.”
