Hong Kong begins mass-testing for virus amid public doubts

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong began a voluntary mass-testing program for coronavirus Tuesday as part of a strategy to break the chain of transmission in the city's third outbreak of the disease.

The virus-testing program has become a flash point of political debate in Hong Kong, with many distrustful over resources and staff being provided by the China's central government and fears that the residents’ DNA could be collected during the exercise.

The Hong Kong government has dismissed such concerns, saying that no personal data will be attached to the specimen bottles and that samples will be destroyed in Hong Kong after the exercise.

The testing program began at 8 a.m. with residents heading to more than 100 testing centers staffed by over 5,000 volunteers. Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said at her weekly news conference on Tuesday that over 10,000 people, including most of Hong Kong's government ministers, had already received testing on Tuesday morning.

“This large-scale universal community testing program is beneficial to fighting the epidemic and beneficial to our society. It will also help Hong Kong come out of the pandemic unscathed and is conducive to the resumption of daily activities,” Lam said.

More than 500,000 people in the city of 7.5 million signed up in advance for the program, which will last at least a week. It is aimed at identifying silent carriers of the virus — those without symptoms — who could be spreading the disease.

The government expects 5 million people will take part in the program, which could be extended to two weeks depending on demand.

Lam urged the public to see the program in a fair and objective light, and appealed to critics to stop discouraging people from taking the test so as to ensure that the program can be as...