Hong Kong launched a mass coronavirus testing scheme on Tuesday, but calls for millions to take up the offer have been undermined by deep distrust of the government following China's crushing of the city's democracy movement.
Hong Kong launched a mass coronavirus testing scheme on Tuesday, but calls for millions to take up the offer have been undermined by deep distrust of the government following China's crushing of the city's democracy movement.
Medical professionals collect samples from a man at a makeshift COVID-19 testing site at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong on 1 September.Since registration began on Saturday, 650,000 people have signed up - around nine per cent of the city's 7.5 million population."It will help Hong Kong emerge from the pandemic unscathed and is conducive to the resumption of daily activities," city leader Carrie Lam told reporters.
But the involvement of teams and labs from the mainland has sent the rumour mills into overdrive and compounded fears of Beijing's surveillance state, which uses biometric data to monitor its citizens. They voiced fears of mass DNA harvesting and concerns Hong Kong might introduce a mandatory health code system like those used on the mainland.
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