雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)] Presented by Mr KWOK, Tony Chun-tung, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

[普通話 (足本收聽)] Presented by Dr CHENG, Catherine Mei-seung, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

The government's first neighbourhood lockdown measure for mandatory testing has drawn to an end. It has met with mixed responses from different sides. While some say it troubled people, wasted resources and was of poor cost effectiveness, there are also experts who maintain that locking down a district for compulsory testing is necessary and worthy. As residents and businesses inside the cordoned-off zone were affected seriously, grumbles and complaints were unavoidable. It was also inevitable that there was room for improvement as the government tried its hand at a new action. Overall, the government's handling of the lockdown can be considered as passing — the mandatory testing was completed within two days without much chaos. As to whether the effectiveness was high or low, it is not appropriate to consider the question simply by referring to the single figure of the test positivity rate. One should also bear in mind that ''an apple cannot be directly compared to an orange.'' In the battle against the pandemic, measures should be taken in line with the actual circumstances of the matter. All depends on the development of the outbreak and the battleground environment on the spot. There is not a panacea that works in all situations or a necessity to rule out any options flatly. Locking down a neighbourhood for mandatory testing is a valuable option that should not be seen through politically-coloured glasses. The authorities should take their lessons from the lockdown and formulate a set of reasonable and objective criteria for future reference regarding when to conduct compulsory testing and when to impose a lockdown.

[ENG audio 1]

The government has deployed 3,000 staff to cordon off the ''restricted zone'' in Yau Ma Tei and Jordan for about two days. More than 7,000 people have undergone mandatory testing during the action and 13 positive cases have been identified. An objective review of the success and failure of the lockdown has to consider questions of many aspects, including the target and rationality of the action, the constraints in reality, the smoothness of measure execution, the pandemic control efficacy in substance, as well as the extent of impact on the residents and businesses.

[ENG audio 2]

Even if they had tested negative at one previous moment, there was no guarantee that they would not be infected with the virus by accident the next moment. What is more, people could enter the neighbourhood as usual again after the lockdown had been lifted. In other words, locking down a district for compulsory testing cannot guarantee achieving ''zero caseload in the district''. The biggest effect of the action is to identify as many asymptomatic patients as possible. According to the authorities, there are three main considerations behind the imposing of the lockdown. Aside from operational feasibility in practice and the numerous cases of recently confirmed infections in the district, the decision was also prompted by the authorities' findings in the middle of this month that 90% of coronavirus-contaminated building sewage samples came from the restricted area.

[ENG audio 3]

Sewage testing has been introduced by the authorities in recent months as a tool for tracing the virus. Previous operations have shown that it is an effective way to locate asymptomatic patients. The high number of confirmed infections and positively tested sewage samples in the restricted area is absolutely unusual. There are a large number of ''triply-inadequate'' buildings in the neighbourhood. The condition for pandemic control is also not at a level comparable to common public housing estates or private estates. There is rationality in the authorities' action of imposing lockdown for compulsory testing.

[ENG audio 4]

Many residents in the area had already undergone testing before the lockdown for mandatory testing and more than a hundred confirmed infections were identified during that time. To a certain extent, the lockdown measure was a second round to find out those who had slipped through the net. Still, a positivity rate of 0.17% was reported after the lockdown. This is exactly a proof of the transmission risk of the virus.

[ENG audio 5]

封區檢測有價值 行動準則要釐清

政府首次封區檢測告一段落，各方反應言人人殊，有意見認為勞民傷財、成本效益低，亦有專家認為封區強檢有需要有價值。封區強檢對居民和商戶影響大，難免有怨言有投訴，政府初硎新試，行動也必有可改善之處，總體而言，這次封區處理尚算合格，強檢兩天完成，未生大亂子，至於成效是高是低，則不宜簡單以檢測陽性比率一個數字來衡量，同時也要留意「蘋果與橙不能直接比較」。抗疫戰要因事制宜，一切視乎疫情發展以及現實戰場環境，既無任何情况皆通用的萬靈丹，也毋須斷然排除任何選項。封區強檢有其價值，不應以政治有色眼鏡看待，當局應從今次行動汲取經驗，就何時要強檢、何時要封區，訂下一套合理客觀準則，作為日後行動的參考。

[PTH audio 1]

政府動員3000人圍封油麻地及佐敦「受限區域」近兩天，行動共強制逾7000人檢測，找出13宗陽性個案。客觀檢視這次封區的得失，需要考慮多方面問題，包括行動的目標和合理性、現實條件制約、執行過程是否順暢、具體控疫成效，以及對居民商戶的影響程度。

[PTH audio 2]

即使上一刻強檢結果呈陰性，也無法保證下一刻不會意外感染病毒，何况小區解封後，市民又可如常出入，換言之，封區強檢無法保證「小區清零」，行動最大作用，就是盡量找出更多隱形病人。根據當局說法，這次圍封行動背後有三大考慮，除了現實操作可行性、近期區內確診病例眾多，還因為當局本月中所做的大廈污水病毒檢測顯示，有九成污水陽性樣本來自受限區。

[PTH audio 3]

污水檢測是當局近月引入的病毒追蹤手段，之前的操作證明，這是找出隱形病人的一個有效方法。受限區確診病例及污水陽性樣本之多，情况絕不尋常；區內「三無」大廈林立，控疫環境亦非一般公共屋邨或私人屋苑可比，當局封區檢測有其合理性。

[PTH audio 4]

當局今次封區強檢之前，區內很多居民其實已接受了檢測，已知確診者過百，封區強檢某程度是第二重執漏，仍然得出0.17%這個陽性比率，正正說明了病毒傳播風險。

[PTH audio 5]

明報社評2021.01.26