Hong Kong, China - Aug 25, 2020 (HKTVB - No access Chinese mainland/Hong Kong)
1. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Carrie Lam walking to podium
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) (partially overlaid with shot 3):
"There are some so-called experts, doctors and individuals who constantly discredit the universal testing program and find excuses to stop residents from participating in the program. What is the motive behind their acts to prevent the Hong Kong people from participating in the universal community testing? There is only one I can think of, which is political calculations, which mean discrediting the central government and undermining the relationship between the central government and Hong Kong. I can't think of any other motives."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
Hong Kong, China - Aug 22, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Sign reading (Chinese/English) "Together, We Fight the Virus!"
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
4. Various of sign reading (Chinese/English) "Together, We Fight the Virus!"

Hong Kong, China - Aug 25, 2020 (HKTVB - No access Chinese mainland/Hong Kong)
5. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR):
"Let me reiterate that this is a 100-percent voluntary universal testing program. The aim is to ensure those who want to get tested can get tested. Therefore, if one is unwilling to take the test, no one can force him or her to be tested, and we will not attach any conditions or consequences on the test."

FILE: Hong Kong, China - July 21-22, 2020 (HKTVB - No access Chinese mainland/Hong Kong)
6. Shopping mall
7. Various of customers in stores, pedestrians

Hong Kong, China - Aug 25, 2020 (HKTVB - No access Chinese mainland/Hong Kong)
8. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) (ending with shot 9):
"I noticed that some figures in the health sector doubted that why the SAR government moved to launch the universal community testing instead of focusing its testing capacity on conducting viral tests for certain groups of people? Here let me reiterate one more time. These two matters are irrelevant with each other, the SAR government will continue to conduct viral tests on certain groups of people, while retaining the resources needed for the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health to perform diagnoses, treatments and health supervisions. Those resources will never be used to conduct the universal community testing. We have never relaxed our vigilance or diverted any relevant resources."

FILE: Hong Kong, China - June 15, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
9. Central Government Complex

FILE: Hong Kong, China - July 27, 2020 (HKTVB - No access Chinese mainland/Hong Kong)
10. Various of medical workers taking samples from people for COVID-19 tests

FILE: Hong Kong, China - Aug 1, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Beds in Asia World-Expo temporary hospital
12. Workers preparing beds for patients

Hong Kong, China - Aug 25, 2020 (HKTVB - No access Chinese mainland/Hong Kong)
13. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR):
"In fact, with the stabilization of newly confirmed cases in recent days, I have noticed that the number of tests jointly conducted by the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health has consequently declined day by day, that is, they now have some spare capacity. The number of tests conducted daily dropped from 14,000 or 12,000 in the past to only a few thousand in recent days, because now there are not so many cases that need to be diagnosed and treated. Therefore, I don't want any healthcare workers to raise any negative opinions about universal community testing without knowing the whole picture."

FILE: Hong Kong, China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
14. Various of cityscape

The motive behind some people's acts of smearing Hong Kong's universal community testing program is to jeopardize the special administrative region (SAR)'s relationship with the central government, said Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

Condemning such acts of certain individuals at a press conference on Tuesday ahead of the Executive Meeting, Lam told reporters that the program's purpose is to cut the community transmission chain and it is 100-percent voluntary.

"There are some so-called experts, doctors and individuals who constantly discredit the universal testing program and find excuses to stop residents from participating in the program. What is the motive behind their acts to prevent the Hong Kong people from participating in the universal community testing? There is only one I can think of, which is political calculations, which mean discrediting the central government and undermining the relationship between the central government and Hong Kong. I can't think of any other motives," said Lam.

"Let me reiterate that this is a 100-percent voluntary program. The aim is to ensure those who want to get tested can get tested. Therefore, if one is unwilling to take the test, no one can force him or her to be tested, and we will not attach any conditions or consequences on the test," she added.

Lam also responded to the accusation that the SAR government is diverting much needed health resources from key epidemic control programs to the testing program.

"I noticed that some figures in the health sector doubted that why the SAR government moved to launch the universal community testing instead of focusing its testing capacity on conducting viral tests for certain groups of people? Here let me reiterate one more time. These two matters are irrelevant with each other, the SAR government will continue to conduct viral tests on certain groups of people, while retaining the resources needed for the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health to perform diagnoses, treatments and health supervisions. Those resources will never be used to conduct the universal community testing. We have never relaxed our vigilance or diverted any relevant resources," said Lam.

The epidemic situation has been easing in Hong Kong in the last couple of days. On Monday, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported nine new confirmed infections, including seven local cases with the total tally standing at 4,691. But it still needs time to determine whether the downward trend can persist, said Lam.

"In fact, with the stabilization of newly confirmed cases in recent days, I have noticed that the number of tests jointly conducted by the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health has consequently declined day by day, that is, they now have some spare capacity. The number of tests conducted daily dropped from 14,000 or 12,000 in the past to only a few thousand in recent days, because now there are not so many cases that need to be diagnosed and treated. Therefore, I don't want any healthcare workers to raise any negative opinions about universal community testing without knowing the whole picture," said Lam.

The HKSAR government announced on Aug. 21 that it will launch the Universal Community Testing Program (UCTP) on Sept. 1 to provide a one-off free testing service for members of the public to identify as early as possible asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in the community and achieve the target of early identification, early isolation and early treatment to cut the community transmission chain.