Coronavirus: Hong Kong authorities’ move to stop nasal swabs for PCR tests does not pose risk to residents, say experts

Hong Kong health authorities’ latest move to stop taking nasal swab samples for Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests may allow more imported cases to enter the community, but does not pose a risk to the local pandemic situation, medical experts have said.

But respiratory medicine expert Dr Leung Chi-chiu on Monday said he found it “problematic” for the city’s government to opt for a less sensitive method when it had been spending a huge amount of resources on PCR testing.