Asymptomatic inbound travellers arriving on flights from the US and other areas in Europe will be required to proceed to the Temporary Specimen Collection Centre at the AsiaWorld-Expo for their deep throat saliva sample collection and wait for the COVID-19 test results there from Monday.

The Department of Health announced the new arrangement based on the assessment that among the imported cases confirmed locally most have been to the UK, followed by the US and European countries.

From April 9, asymptomatic inbound travellers arriving on flights from the UK must proceed to the Temporary Specimen Collection Centre and wait for the test results there. The arrangement has been running smoothly.

If the number of passengers on flights from the UK, the US and European countries exceeds the centre's maximum capacity, they will be allowed to go home or a designated place after specimen collection for compulsory quarantine.

If they test positive, they will be arranged for admission to hospital as soon as possible for treatment, while the close contacts who travelled with them will be sent to designated quarantine centres.

Those who test negative can go home or to a designated place to continue completion of the 14-day compulsory quarantine.