HONG KONG -- The Department of Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Monday launched an online platform for the submission of positive COVID-19 rapid test results.

People who tested positive for COVID-19 via rapid test can submit their results on the platform on the day of, or a day after, receiving the result, and will be asked to provide their personal details as well as those of their household contacts, said Edwin Tsui, controller of the Center for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health of the HKSAR government.

Tsui said that the CHP will follow up on those who successfully submitted the information by sending them an SMS message and quarantine order. Their close contacts will also receive an SMS message and relevant arrangements will be made.

The CHP will prioritize admission of patients into isolation facilities according to their home environment and needs, and some reported cases will be arranged to take PCR tests for verification, Tsui said.

Those who tested positive from Feb 26 to March 5 can report their infection through the platform before March 14 and a quarantine order will also be issued to them.

The CHP may not provide medical follow up on those who tested positive during that period since their symptoms are believed to have stabilized or have even recovered, but still encourage them to actively report so as to help the government get a better picture of the epidemic, Tsui said.