All of Hong Kong's inhabitants of seven.5 million folks will probably be required to endure COVID-19 testing in March, Hong Kong Chief Govt Carrie Lam mentioned Tuesday.

The order comes as town contends with its worst Omicron variant-driven outbreak. About 5,000 new infections have been reported a day since February 15, the Related Press reported.

Lam mentioned that town's inhabitants must be examined 3 times in March, and testing capability will probably be elevated to 1 million or extra a day.

"Since now we have a inhabitants of some 7 million folks, testing will take about seven days," she mentioned.

The obligatory testing is Hong Kong's newest transfer aimed toward containing the outbreak that's threatening to overwhelm town's hospitals. Authorities from the Chinese language mainland additionally deployed epidemiologists, well being staff, and different medical sources to town final week, the AP reported.

Whereas some international locations are starting to work towards reaching the endemic section, or when folks can stay with the virus relatively than utterly eradicating it, Hong Kong is basically using China's "zero-COVID-19" coverage.

Not like the endemic section, the coverage is aimed toward totally eliminating the virus utilizing robust measures like enacting strict quarantine necessities for vacationers, ordering companies to shut doorways, and imposing lockdowns on residential estates for mass testing when instances are discovered, per the AP.

Hong Kong COVID Testing
Hong Kong will take a look at its total inhabitants for COVID-19 in March as town grapples with its worst outbreak pushed by the Omicron variant. Residents line as much as get examined for the coronavirus at a brief testing heart regardless of the rain in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022.Kin Cheung/AP Picture

The semi-autonomous Chinese language metropolis's present surge commenced at the start of the 12 months as Hong Kong documented nearly 54,000 infections and 145 fatalities in consequence.

Folks in Hong Kong who take a look at optimistic for COVID-19 should both be admitted to a hospital or a quarantine facility, and well being officers mentioned final week that isolation services have been full and hospitals have been at 90 p.c capability.

Lam mentioned Tuesday that town was "working very onerous" to construct extra of the quarantine services after calling them "severely insufficient."

Whereas some components of mainland China have seen total cities placed on lockdowns, Lam mentioned that imposing an analogous measure in Hong Kong is "not sensible" and never into account.

The brand new testing measure will add to Hong Kong's already strict COVID pointers, together with flight bans from sure international locations and a prohibition on consuming at eating places after 6 p.m., which will probably be prolonged till April 20, in accordance with the AP.

"This isn't excellent news to the sectors affected, however actually at this stage of the pandemic now we have no selection however to take these measures," Lam mentioned.

The college 12 months in Hong Kong may even conclude early and the standard summer time break interval will probably be moved up from July by means of August to March and April so that college can be utilized for testing, quarantining and vaccination services, the AP reported.

Replace 2/22/22, 10:15 a.m. ET: This story has been up to date with extra info and background.