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Epidemic control and innovation & technology

The Universal Community Testing Programme (the Programme) was launched last Tuesday with the objective of breaking the hidden chains of infection in the community as early as possible by identifying asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. Over a million citizens have registered for the programme so far. More than 600 000 people had their specimens taken and some cases were tested positive for COVID-19. By identifying, isolating and providing medical treatment to the asymptomatic patients, we can safeguard the health of their families and friends, and bring down the risk of secondary and tertiary infection in the community.

A few days ago, I visited the community testing centre at the Hong Kong Science Park to inspect the operation of the centre and to give encouragement to the staff working there.

On the first day of the Programme, I joined the entire political team of the Government to take the test, which is short and smooth. A few days ago, I visited the community testing centre at the Hong Kong Science Park to inspect the operation of the centre and to give encouragement to the staff working there. My thanks also goes to all the frontline medical staff, civil servant colleagues, support staff and other organisations running the Programme for their contributions to Hong Kong's anti-epidemic work.

As some testing centres have almost reached their full capacity and are fully booked for testing appointments, the Government has announced to extend the Programme for four days to September 11. I would like to appeal to all citizens who have not yet registered for the programme to take the test for the health of yourself and your family.

On the economic and social front, the Programme has positive spillover effects because if we do not identify the asymptomatic patients as soon as possible, when the restriction measures are to be lifted in future to restart economic activities, we will face the risk of resurgence which may lead to the need to restate those measures. This vicious cycle will dampen the recovery of our economy as well as the resumption of daily lives.

At present, our imminent task is to tame the epidemic as soon as possible, so that gradual relaxation of restriction measures would be allowed to facilitate economic recovery. At the same time, we have to equip ourselves for the economic development and business transformation under the "new normal" amid COVID-19.

In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a tremendous impact on the development and structure of the global economy. To adapt to the "new normal" under the epidemic, many business sectors have already sped up the application of technology in their operation, such as virtual meeting, e-commerce, online order and delivery service, smart self-service system, online customer service, online work-flow management, as well as electronic payment. The digitalisation of and the application of technology in all sectors have become an irreversible trend.

To support enterprises to adopt IT solutions to continue their business and services during the epidemic, we have launched the Distance Business (D-Biz) Programme under the Anti-epidemic Fund. The funding ceiling is HK$100,000 for each IT solution and the relevant training expenses for the employees, while the funding ceiling per enterprise is HK$300,000. Since its launch in May, the D-Biz Programme has received more than 18,000 applications, amongst which about 75 per cent were approved with a total funding of over HK$ 760 million. In view of the overwhelming response from enterprises, we have allocated an additional funding of HK$1 billion to the Programme and implemented enhancement measures.

In addition, the pandemic has changed the daily routines and consumption patterns of many people. These new routines and demands will very likely remain even after the pandemic is over. On the one hand this means challenges to the existing mode of operation for many businesses, but on the other hand it brings new business opportunities and discovers unknown possibilities of the future economic and industrial models.

Last week, I visited the co-working labs and spaces for biomedical technology in the Science Park and met with three biomedical technology partner companies of the Park to understand more about the latest development of the sector. I was pleased to learn about the remarkable progress they have made in Hong Kong. One company has developed a real-time monitoring system which can trace the health data of patients remotely through a wearable device. The system has been adopted by the Hospital Authority in the monitoring of isolated COVID-19 patients, which helps to reduce the risk of infection. Another company focuses on the development of precision monitoring and treatment for cancer through next-generation sequencing technology, with the long-term objective of lowering the cost of cancer diagnosis and treatment.

I also took the opportunity to tour the InnoCell, which is currently under construction. The project will provide rental living space with a discounted price to attract talents of the innovation & technology sector to stay in Hong Kong.

The development of biomedical technology, as well as other sectors in innovation & technology are of utmost importance to the future economic and social development of Hong Kong. Even facing economic recession and financial pressure, the Government is determined to promote the development of innovation & technology and will continue to invest in the area with the aim of creating room for Hong Kong’s future economic development.

September 6, 2020