Government thanks helpers for getting tested

The government has thanked the hundreds of thousands of foreign domestic helpers who took a compulsory Covid-19 test, ahead of Sunday’s deadline.

The order, seen by some as discriminatory, was made late last month to combat a mutated variant cluster linked to an arrival from Dubai.

In a statement, the government said between May 1 and 6 pm on Sunday, nearly 340,000 helpers had been tested, while 40,000 had received two Covid jabs and were exempt.

Separately, the government says nearly 1.1 million have had at least one Covid jab here, just over 16 percent of the population.

Hong Kong reported no local Covid cases on Sunday, though there was an imported case from Argentina.