Government urges again residents and workers of Sham Shui Po district to undergo voluntary testing

     The Government is highly concerned about the suspected silent transmission chains in Sham Shui Po district and has arranged eight service points for local residents and those working there to undergo testing on a voluntary basis. The Government urges again citizens in the district to undergo testing as soon as possible to help cut the silent transmission chains and achieve "early identification, early isolation and early treatment”.

     A Government spokesman said, "Confirmed cases with unknown sources have been found in several areas of Sham Shui Po district (including Tai Hang Tung Estate, Mei Foo Sun Chuen, Nam Cheong Street and Hing Wah Street) where the cases had visited many places in the district. In addition, a preliminary tested positive case who has lived in Fu Yuet House of Fu Cheong Estate in Sham Shui Po was detected, as such Fu Yuet House has been specified as a ‘restricted area’ and relevant persons are required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing. Moreover, some recent sewage samples collected in Sham Shui Po area (i.e. south of Nam Cheong Street, north of Boundary Street, west of Tai Hang Tung Road and Shek Kip Mei Estate area) have tested positive, indicating a certain viral load contained in the sewage. We are worried that silent transmissions are taking place now in the community, which may further exacerbate the epidemic situation.”

     Apart from service points in Sham Shui Po, residents and those working in Sham Shui Po can also go to community testing centres (CTCs)/mobile specimen collection stations (if the service scope is applicable) across the city to receive free testing service. Details of the eight service points in Sham Shui Po are as follows:

CTC (8am to 8pm)
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• Pak Tin Community Hall, Sham Shui Po (G/F, Pak Tin Community Complex on Pak Wan Street)

 
Mobile specimen collection stations
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8am to 8pm

• Maple Street Playground, Sham Shui Po (Junction of Cheung Sha Wan Road and Maple Street)

9am to 9pm

• Cheung Sha Wan Sports Centre (near Hing Wah Street)
• Lai Chi Kok Park entrance (near Exit D of Mei Foo MTR Station)
• Po On Road Playground (near Lei Cheng Uk Estate)

10am to 8pm

• Tai Hang Tung Community Centre
• Lai Kok Community Hall
• Cheung Sha Wan Playground (near Exit B of Cheung Sha Wan MTR Station)

     As at 9pm today (January 19), about 9 800 members of the public were provided free testing at the above eight service points. The Government will continue to review the need to further extend opening dates and hours of the service points with regard to actual usage and demand.

     Since October 2020, the Government has collected sewage samples in various districts for sewage surveillance. Some sewage samples collected in the past two days in Sham Shui Po have tested positive. The Government will continue to conduct sewage testing in the district over the next few days to ascertain the source of the virus.

     The Government urges all individuals who are in doubt about their own health conditions, or individuals with infection risks (such as individuals who visited places with epidemic outbreaks or had contact with cases tested positive), to undergo testing promptly for early identification of infected persons to reduce the transmission risks of COVID-19. Furthermore, the Government strongly appeals to the community again to continue to refrain from participating in gatherings (including cross-family gatherings) in the near future.