Wong Kam Sing, Secretary of the Environment, defended sewage testing’s utility by saying that only 10% of those subjected at building lockdowns tested positive to Covid-19.
To track down Covid-19 patients, authorities have been testing sewage to see if there are any traces of the coronavirus. Leung Pak-yin, the former chief executive of Hospital Authority, criticized the arrangement and called it a wasteful use of resources.
Wong stated Monday on RTHK radio that a tenth (or ten percent) of residents who were subject to building lockdowns in the past month tested positive at Covid-19.
“The numbers don’t lie,” Wong said.
Wong also stated that sewage testing is highly accurate and explained that the testing equipment also measures virus concentrations.
They were instrumental to monitoring a recent rebound, such as at Kwun Tong’s Shun Tin Estate. Of the 1,280 residents at the estate’s Tin Hang House, which was locked down on Sunday, 223 tested preliminarily positive.
Wong called sewage testing a “pre-emptive measure”, explaining that authorities can know which buildings are housing positive cases before the patients realize it themselves.
After Leung, former chief of Hospital Authority, expressed doubts about sewage testing, he made his comment.
Leung wrote in a Facebook post Monday that continuing to test sewage during the fifth wave is a “waste of resources” that places unnecessary strain on anti-epidemic personnel. It is also a nuisance for residents.
The fact that nearly 10 percent of the city’s population has been infected suggests that the epidemic has reached its peak, he said.
Leung suggested the government divert these funds towards other pressing bottlenecks.
On Monday, two public housing blocks, Choi Lai House of Sheung Shui’s Choi Yuen Estate and Shing Yat House of Kwai Chung’s Kwai Shing East Estate, were locked down after sewage discharged from the buildings tested positive for Covid-19.
Both buildings must be tested by residents before Monday 9pm. Authorities plan to end the lockdowns at Choi Lai House & Shing Yat House at 1.30pm & 1pm Tuesday, respectively.
Anyone who has been in either building for more then two hours between March 8 and March 21 must be tested by March 23.
