With an increase in COVID-19 testing demand due to the spread of the mutated variant, online sellers touting specimen collection bottles—distributed by the government for free—have been spotted on an online marketplace platform.
According to local media, screenshots from Carousell show the price of the specimen bottles ranging between HK$25 and HK$30 (US$3.20 to US$3.90). Some specify that they are “suitable for domestic helper groups for virus testing.”
As of Thursday, the postings could no longer be found on the platform.
“The government calls on the public and organizations to refrain from collecting more sets of packs than needed so that others in need can also obtain specimen collection packs for testing,” Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan wrote in a press release Wednesday.
She added that the government distributes 33,000 testing bottles every day, which can be collected from clinics under the Hospital Authority, at post offices and from vending machines at designated MTR stations. But only around half of the bottles distributed are eventually collected.
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In light of the recent increase of coronavirus cases, and in particular, a mutant variant said to be more transmissible, the demand for specimen bottles has surged due to the government ordering foreign domestic helpers to undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing.
Hong Kong has confirmed 10 incidents of a patient contracting the mutated virus so far since the first case involving a 29-year-old man who returned from Dubai last month.
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