The Government today said it will continue to provide its free COVID-19 testing service at community testing centres for people of targeted groups who have yet to complete a COVID-19 vaccination course or are unfit for vaccination due to health reasons.

Eligible people include staff of catering businesses, scheduled premises, public and private swimming pools and beaches, quarantine hotels or specified hotels and construction sites as well as working staff accompanying and receiving local group tours.

For the above eligible people of construction sites and local group tours, from May 24, those who are unfit to receive COVID-19 vaccination due to health reasons need to present a relevant medical certificate while those who have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine should present a relevant vaccination record.

The Food & Health Bureau said the Government started to provide a one-off free COVID-19 testing service to targeted groups at the testing centres through online booking last year and the response has been positive.

In light of the ongoing epidemic situation in Hong Kong, the bureau considered it necessary to extend the testing arrangements.

Since January this year, a total of about 11 million virus tests were conducted via various testing channels.

Among them, construction site personnel as well as staff of catering businesses and scheduled premises have undergone 870,000, 850,000 and 280,000 tests at the testing centres.

The bureau pointed out that it needs to reserve sufficient testing capacity at the testing centres to meet unexpected testing demand in an efficient and flexible manner.

As such, the free testing service offered there for certain targeted groups will only be open to people who are unfit to receive vaccination due to health reasons, or those who have yet to receive the second dose of vaccine and hence not qualified for the exemption from regular testing.

The free testing service at the testing centres for the targeted groups will be available until the end of June.

Eligible people should book in advance via the community testing centre booking system. Those who do not make an appointment will have to pay $240 for the service.

Apart from the community testing centres, citizens can continue to utilise other free testing channels provided by the Government.