The Government today reminded the public that apart from providing free testing services to those who are subject to compulsory testing and targeted groups, the 19 community testing centres also have sufficient capacity to serve self-paid users who can make bookings for tests for cross-boundary travel.

The community testing centres provide self-paid specimen collection services through combined nasal and throat swabs and COVID-19 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction testing.

The self-paid service charge is capped at $240.

The contractor will issue within 24 hours the nucleic acid test report, which is also suitable for applying for the Hong Kong Health Code.

At present, the community testing centres provide close to 40,000 online booking places per day.

Those who need the test report for travel including the future application for the Hong Kong Health Code are reminded to fill in travel information such as the Hong Kong & Macao Residents Entry & Exit Permit, ie Home Return Permit, or other travel documents when making an online booking.

They have to bring original documents and the booking confirmation SMS to the community testing centre for registration so that the identity number can be quoted on the test report.

The booking system displays each centre's booking status for the next two weeks, making it convenient for people to plan and choose the suitable location and time slot for testing.