Hong Kong Considers Citywide Testing as Omicron Overwhelms Defenses

Officials are considering citywide coronavirus testing in Hong Kong, adopting a strategy used in mainland China after Beijing demanded more be done to control an Omicron surge that has quickly overrun the city’s health system. Under the plan, all 7.4 million residents would be tested from early March with Chinese authorities sending health experts and medical workers to help carry out the mammoth task, people familiar with the matter said. Some tests would be sent across the border to Shenzhen for results to be processed quickly, one person said. A day after Chinese leader Xi Jinping called on the city to bring the outbreak to heel, mainland authorities have begun stepping up plans to send help to the city. Hong Kong has quickly become the center of the worst outbreak in Chinese territory since the coronavirus emerged in Wuhan more than two years ago, presenting a major test for the country’s so-called dynamic clearing policy, which aims to eliminate clusters whenever they appear.