Gov’t doctor acknowledges they are following mainland NAT standards

Mainland standards governing SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test (NAT) specimen collectors should be followed to facilitate the test more easily, Dr Lei Wai Seng of the public hospital said yesterday.

The doctor, who is a medical director working at the Accident and Emergency Department of the hospital, told yesterday’s regular health press briefing that the Health Bureau (SSM) follows mainland standards relating to the qualifications of specimen collectors.

“We have been operating mass NATs lately and require support from mainland China,” Lei said. “That’s why we need to align with mainland standards, to avoid discrepancies.”

He added that he believed the standards here and in the mainland “are fairly similar.”

Nonetheless, many have complained online that university degrees were required for local specimen collectors, in contrast to high school certificates for those hired from the mainland.

Other sources have alleged that those hired from mainland China did not even possess basic anti-infection skills, such as knowing to tuck the sleeves of the personal protection equipment (PPE) into the opening of the gloves.

On the matter of hiring local specimen collectors, the doctor pledged that the health agency would constantly monitor the need for employees to implement the announced plan for regular NATs in the future, “so that third-party NAT service providers would be able to hire enough local residents to work in this area.”