Hong Kong orders mandatory Covid test for all residents

Hong Kong, February 22

Hong Kong will test its entire population of 7.5 million people for Covid-19 in March, the city’s leader said on Tuesday, as it grapples with its worst outbreak driven by the omicron variant.

The population will be tested three times in March, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said. She said testing capacity would be boosted to 1 million a day or more. “Since we have a population of some 7 million people, testing will take about seven days,” she said.

Hong Kong has reported about 5,000 new daily infections since February 15, with the cases threatening to overwhelm its healthcare system. — AP

EU relaxes rules to enter 27-nation bloc

European Union member countries agreed that they should further facilitate tourist travel into the 27-nation bloc for people who are vaccinated or have recovered from Covid. The European Council is recommending that EU nations lift all testing and quarantine requirements for those jabbed. AP