Community testing centres and mobile specimen collection stations continue to provide COVID-19 testing service to public

     The Government has all along been providing convenient testing services to members of the public through various channels, including a free testing service, and encouraging them to make good use of various means such as community testing centres (CTCs) and mobile specimen collection stations located in various districts for testing, with a view to achieving "early identification, early isolation and early treatment", and cutting transmission chains in the community as early as possible.
 
     Apart from continuing to provide service for persons subject to compulsory testing, the Government will maintain free testing service at CTCs/mobile specimen collection stations for persons undergoing voluntary testing to reduce the risk of virus transmission in the community.
 
     CTCs provide booking and walk-in services. Members of the public only need to provide simple personal information on the 24-hour booking system (www.communitytest.gov.hk/en). The system shows the booking status of the centres for the coming two weeks to facilitate the public's planning and selection of a suitable testing centre and a time slot for testing. The testing centres will accord priority to serve individuals with advance bookings. As of 6pm today (March 7), there was around 74 per cent availability for booking places for the coming 14 days. Members of the public may call the testing centres for enquiries on the availability of bookings or walk-in quotas before visiting the centres.

     To tie in with the full service resumption of Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse, the service hours of the mobile specimen collection station at Sheung Shui Cycling Entry/Exit Hub will be extended to 8pm starting tomorrow (March 8), with a view to facilitating testing by the practitioners of the slaughterhouses.

     Separately, ticketing machines have been installed in a number of service points for on-site ticket arrangement. Members of the public who have obtained a ticket can visit the CTC website (www.communitytest.gov.hk/en) to check the real-time queueing ticket status.
 
     To enable the working population to undergo testing on their rest days or before/after work, the CTCs are open daily from 8am to 1.30pm and from 2.30pm to 8pm, even on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The opening dates and operating hours of the mobile specimen collection stations are stated in the Annex.
       
     The Government urges all individuals who are in doubt about their own health conditions, or individuals with infection risks (such as individuals who have been in contact with confirmed cases), to undergo testing promptly for early identification of infected persons.