The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Caspar Tsui, visited a special specimen collection centre in the Islands District at Mui Wo Recreation Centre today (September 5) to inspect its operation on the first day and to give encouragement to the staff members on duty.
 
     To cut the transmission chains of COVID-19 in the community, the Government launched the Universal Community Testing Programme (UCTP) on September 1 to provide a one-off free testing service for the public at community testing centres in all districts across the territory. Moreover, special arrangements have been made under the UCTP for Islands District residents living in areas far from the community testing centres. Six special specimen collection centres are set up in the Islands District for taking samples from those residents for testing from today to September 14.
 
     Accompanied by the District Officer (Islands), Miss Amy Yeung, Mr Tsui first learned about the manpower allocation, design and testing workflow of the special specimen collection centre, as well as the infection control and social distancing measures put in place. He also chatted with staff members and thanked them for their participation in the work of the UCTP to fight the virus together with the community.
 
     "Although the confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been gradually reduced recently, there are still silent transmission chains in the community. To protect oneself and others, I appeal to members of the public to participate in the UCTP to help us identify asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in the community early, so that the epidemic situation can be further curtailed and the society can return to normal gradually," Mr Tsui said.
 
     Details of the UCTP, including the operating schedule of the special specimen collection centres in Islands District, are available on the dedicated website (www.communitytest.gov.hk).

Ends/Saturday, September 5, 2020
Issued at HKT 14:36

NNNN