Government sets up large-scale mobile specimen collection stations in Victoria Park to meet testing demand

     The Government today (January 7) reminded the public that, as multiple premises on the Hong Kong island have been included in compulsory testing notices, two large-scale mobile specimen collection stations have been set up in Victoria Park to provide free testing services to persons who reside at or have visited high-risk places.
      
     The two stations are located at (1) the bandstand in Victoria Park (near Causeway Bay MTR station and exits to Gloucester Road) and (2) the handball court in Victoria Park (near Tin Hau MTR station and exit to Hing Fat Street). The service hours start from 10am till 8pm.
      
     Apart from the large-scale mobile specimen collection stations in Victoria Park, some other specimen collection stations have also been set up at places such as Lockhart Road Playground in Wan Chai, Causeway Bay Community Centre near Fortress Hill MTR station, and North Point Community Hall. An additional mobile specimen collection station will be set up in Tamar Park at Admiralty tomorrow (January 8).
      
     A spokesman of the Food and Health Bureau said that the Government set up about 30 additional mobile specimen collection stations for residential buildings and premises under compulsory testing notices in various districts within a short period of time. Extra manpower was also arranged to serve the public. Citizens who need to undergo virus testing may make good use of community testing centres (CTCs) which allow advance booking to make appointments for testing so as to save waiting time.
      
     "The Government will continue to monitor closely the utilisation rate of testing services and make every effort to ensure a sufficient testing capacity to meet the demand. We will set up more mobile specimen collection stations in areas with testing demand based on risk assessment to enable citizens to undergo testing and fight the virus together," the spokesman said.
      
     During the period of December 25, 2021 and January 6 this year, testing service was provided to over 640 000 persons in total at the CTCs and mobile specimen collection stations, including more than 40 000 citizens who took free tests after receiving exposure notifications through the LeaveHomeSafe mobile application. On January 6, over 75 000 samples were collected at the CTCs and mobile specimen collection stations in one day.