Mainland specialists work around the clock on HK COVID-19 tests

Hong Kong's Fire Eye Laboratory, located at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Center, has been busy with boxes of COVID-19 testing samples continually arriving since universal screening was launched in Hong Kong on Sept 1.

Hundreds of mainland nucleic acid testing support team members are on duty at the laboratory, which is running 24 hours a day. They are in a race against time to push forward with the virus testing work.

"Every post at the laboratory is closely linked and indispensable," says Yu Dewen, leader of the nucleic acid testing team from Guangdong province.

At the request of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, the central government set up a nucleic acid testing team to help Hong Kong implement the Universal Community Testing Program to enhance COVID-19 testing capacity.

Since Aug 2, more than 570 members of the testing team have arrived in Hong Kong from the mainland to carry out the lab testing work.

As the team members work long hours every day, diapers have become a necessity. "To save time, we try not to go to the toilet," Xiao Fangzhen, a member of the support team, says, noting that wearing diapers allows them to work in the laboratory for 12 hours nonstop.

Every time the team members enter the laboratory, they must change into a new set of protective equipment, including conjoined protective clothing, goggles, N95 masks and double gloves.

Food and drinks sent to the laboratory for the support team members by the HKSAR government are often left untouched.