Hong Kong on Tuesday (September 1) launched a mass COVID-19 testing programme.

Half a million people registered online for the programme.

Footage filmed on September 1 shows Hongkongers arriving at the Choi Hung Road Sports Centre to get tested. Further footage shows members of DAB (Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong), the pro-China party in Hong Kong, helping citizens to register online for the programme.

Despite about half a million having registered online for the free COVID-19 testing, no long queues could be observed in the morning of September 1st, in Hong Kong. In Choi Hung sport centre, few people trickled in little by little. In Tai Po, the Hui sport centre was apparently fully booked for the entire duration of the testing programme. Despite this, a well-organized appointment system meant that there was no queues, and many "aunties" could be seen coming in to get tested after shopping at the nearby wet market.

Members of the DAB, the pro-China party in Hong Kong, could be seen helping senior citizens to register for the free testing via smartphone.

Members of the opposition had protested on Sunday on having the testing center established next to a market, fearing contagion of the community. Similarly, they complained that a similar appointment system could have been used to allow voting at the LegCo elections instead of postponing them to next year. Many of the testing centres were placed in what would have been voting bureaus, in fact.