Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung Kin-chung (2nd from left) inspected a community testing center ( Photo: Wen Wei Po)

Hong Kong formally started its Universal Community Testing Program (UTCP) on Tuesday, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam will “take the lead” to get tested, Hong Kong-based newspaper Wen Wei Po reported.

More than 553,000 people had registered online for the testing by 6 pm on Monday, according to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.

Lam, together with other government officials, will soon join a testing center at the Central Government Offices, one of the 141 community testing centers.

Among the 141 testing centers, nearly 70 percent, or 97 sites have been fully booked on the first day of UTCP, and 14 are fully booked for the whole week until Sept. 7.

Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung Kin-chung inspected the testing center at City Hall and visited the command center on Monday.

More than 6,000 medical workers have volunteered to participate in the UTCP and 4,000 public servants have been assigned to facilitate administrative work, Cheung said.

He added that opposition activists who repeatedly smeared the program and spread misinformation should be condemned, since they disregard public health as well as efforts done by personnel on the frontline.

The UCTP was launched to identify asymptomatic COVID-19 patients and cut the transmission chain in the community by providing free nucleic acid testing, against a background of the third wave of outbreak in early July, Xinhua reported on Monday.

The operations of the program will be closely monitored for further decisions on whether to extend the program for a longer period, the HKSAR government said.

(Compiled by Shi Yuanhao)