HK to distribute 190,000 RAT kits after Covid detected in sewage

Hong Kong, June 27 (IANS) The Hong Kong government said that it will distribute around 190,000 sets of Covid-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits as part of a follow-up on the recent detection of the virus in sewage samples.

The test kits will be distributed to residents, cleaning workers, and property management staff working in the areas with positive sewage testing results showing relatively high viral loads, in order to help identify infected persons, Xinhua news agency quoted the government as saying.

It also urged the RAT kit users to report any positive results for Covid-19 via the government's online platform.

On Sunday, Hong Kong registered 1,799 confirmed locally transmitted cases and 118 imported infections, official data revealed.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020, Hong Kong has reported a total of 1,237,877 Covid-19 cases and 9,398 deaths.