Hong Kong coronavirus sewage monitoring may be expanded to check for influenza as health secretary warns of potential winter outbreak
- Health secretary Lo Chung-mau says sewage tests carried out since Covid-19 pandemic hit had helped predict start of outbreaks
- Lo says more beds have been added in public hospitals and extra outpatient clinics organised in preparation for winter flu outbreaks
Hong Kong authorities are considering an expansion of the sewage monitoring system to detect not just the coronavirus but other infectious diseases such as influenza, the city’s health secretary said as he warned of a possible winter flu outbreak.
Lo Chung-mau on Friday explained sewage tests carried out since the Covid-19 pandemic hit had helped authorities predict the start of outbreaks.
“In our past experience during the Covid-19 pandemic, the sewage surveillance system could show the rise in infections before we saw an actual outbreak in the community,” he said at a meeting of the Legislative Council’s health services panel.
“The positive results in the sewage tests often increase before community outbreaks occur. This gives us a warning sign. So we are considering expanding sewage testing to influenza.”
The citywide sewage surveillance system was set up in 2020 through a collaboration between the government and the University of Hong Kong as a pilot scheme.
