Social News
Written by: Chen Qianting
2020-06-23 16:49
Date of last update: 2020-06-23 17:14The "Hong Kong version of the health code" is expected to be launched within a few days to allow people from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao who have cross-border needs to be exempted from compulsory quarantine after undergoing testing. Waiting for being questioned is too expensive, and the gap between Guangdong and Guangdong's uniform inspection fee of about 82 yuan is large. However, the Hong Kong government said that if market demand increases, it is expected that the inspection fee will decrease.
Some people in the industry pointed out that taking the German-made reagents purchased by the Hospital Authority, the Department of Health, private hospitals and laboratories as an example, each kit costs about HK$600, but the Guangdong Provincial Government purchases uniformly, and the cost of reagents produced in the Mainland is from Originally more than 80 yuan fell to the most recent 15 yuan. Other costs, such as machines and manpower wages, are also far apart, resulting in a far distance between inspection fees.
Lu Chongmao, the dean of the Shenzhen Hospital of the University of Hong Kong, reprimanded the fact that zero intervention by the Hong Kong government is more than laissez-faire. It should consider participating in the unified procurement of the mainland to help private institutions lower the testing fees.
(The full text is calculated by converting RMB to Hong Kong dollars)
+2
"Hong Kong version of health code" requires cross-border people to do virus testing at their own expense. Currently, 5 private hospitals and 3 private laboratories are certified including Yanghe Hospital, Yan On Hospital, Gang Yi Hospital, Tsuen Wan Hong Kong and Hong Kong Adventist Hospital, Baili Medical Laboratory Co., Ltd., Hong Kong Molecular Pathology Laboratory, and genetic testing company Prenetics. Cross-border persons need to go to these institutions for virus testing, and the institutions will upload the virus testing results to the government platform for review. Qualified persons can use the health code with a validity of 7 days to cross the border for 14 days without quarantine.
The testing fees of various private medical institutions range from more than 1,000 yuan to the most expensive 4,000 yuan. Some people think that the fees are too expensive, which is far from the standard test fee of 82 yuan in Guangdong Province. People in the industry in Hong Kong believe that the cost levels of the two places are different and it is difficult to compare them together.
Li Jiyao, the director of Ren'an Hospital, said that although it was known that the quality of the reagents of some pharmaceutical factories in the Mainland was good, it was difficult to obtain sources of supply. (Information picture/Photo by Lu Yiming)
Imported reagents used by Hong Kong industry are around HK$600-700
At present, the reagents used for testing in Hong Kong are mainly imported goods. It is reported that both the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health have purchased reagent kits manufactured by Roche Diagnostics, manufactured in Germany. The two Hong Kong Hospitals replied that the self-purchased reagents were made in Germany and the United States, while Hong Kong Hospital stated that they purchased reagents approved in Europe and the United States.
Li Jiyao, the director and medical director of Ren'an Hospital, revealed that the hospital also purchased Roche's testing reagents at a price of about 600 to 700 yuan. Although it is known that the quality of pharmaceutical products in the mainland is good, it is difficult to obtain sources of supply, and it is unknown whether the mainland is like the US FDA And other certifications for reference. In response to an inquiry, the Hong Kong Molecular Pathology Testing Center stated that it had purchased both Roche's reagents and Hybribio, a biotechnology company from a Hong Kong-funded mainland plant. The reagents cost about 300 yuan.
The cost of manpower and equipment is expensive, the detection volume is too low, and it is difficult to allocate
In addition to reagents, the cost of testing, swabs to collect samples, testing equipment, manpower, and rent will also affect testing fees. Li Jiyao revealed that Ren'an Hospital currently can perform about 120 virus tests per day. He pointed out that the cost of equipment and manpower has been fixed. "It is the same to do 10 and 50 to be the same." It is expected that the number of tests will increase. Price reduction space.
Some private laboratories said that the cost of a swab is about 40 yuan. For the testing equipment, if 96 samples are stored before turning on, the cost of each sample can be maintained at 50 to 60 yuan, but private institutions Do it, you can't wait", so the cost may increase sharply. Once all the samples tested are positive and need to be re-examined, the cost of testing will double, which can be described as "doing an erosion once."
Hong Kong chemist's salary is higher than the Mainland
In terms of manpower, the source said that the monthly salary of mainland technicians is about 4,000 to 5,000 yuan, but the monthly salary of laboratory technicians in Hong Kong is at least 30,000 yuan. In addition, the Hong Kong government does not intend to provide subsidies like the mainland and Macao governments. In addition, the overall testing volume in Hong Kong is too low, and private medical institutions have no bargaining power.
Lu Chongmao suggested that the government consider discussing with the mainland government to participate in the unified procurement of testing reagents. (Profile picture / Photograph by Liang Pengwei)
The mainland government has issued a unified procurement plan for Hong Kong, relying solely on citizens to shoot
The current cost of new crown virus nucleic acid testing at the Shenzhen University of Hong Kong University is RMB 82. Together with the registration fee of about RMB 109, a virus detection report of RMB 191 is already available, which is much lower than the price in Hong Kong. Dean Lu Chongmao revealed that at the beginning, the government's uniform testing cost was about 175 yuan, and the hospital needed about 87 yuan to purchase reagents from the manufacturer. Until the hospital's daily testing volume increased to more than 1,000 times, the manufacturer was willing to reduce the price to about 63 yuan. Until recently, the Guangdong Provincial Government launched a unified procurement across the province, and the cost of reagents dropped to about 17 yuan.
Looking through the information, Guangdong Province and the remaining five provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions formed a "regional joint procurement" alliance to centrally purchase new coronavirus testing reagents, which lowered the testing fee. The Secretary for Food and Health of Hong Kong, Chen Zhaoshi, was asked earlier if he would test prices uniformly. He only said that the increase in demand for materials testing could lower prices, and that he would contact more private laboratories to introduce suppliers to increase competition.
Lu Chongmao: The Hong Kong government "don't manage and help" should consider participating in mainland procurement
Lu Chongmao believes that the Guangdong provincial government's approach is a successful example, showing that the government needs to help fight the epidemic with policy assistance. He pointed out that private hospitals in Hong Kong should bear their own profits and losses, but the amount of testing affects the cost of testing, and fighting the epidemic requires a commander. The government should assume the role of a general, rather than "playing by the citizens themselves," criticizing Hong Kong The current practice of the government is not ideal. "You can talk about the free market, and I think it is laissez-faire."
Lu Chongmao also pointed out that the two systems are allowed under one country, but it is not impossible to have common ground. It is recommended that the Hong Kong government can discuss with the mainland and consider participating in the unified procurement of the Guangdong provincial government to help medical institutions do virus testing.
Hong Kong version of the health code | News: The government met with medical institutions to discuss the implementation of the Lok Ma Chau Port to reopen
New Coronary Pneumonia | Xu Shuchang advised the Hong Kong government to observe the outbreak in the Mainland for a week before deciding whether to push the health code
Health code|No timetable Hong Kong has high testing fees, criticized Chen Zhaoshi: introducing competitive price cuts
Health Code | The difference between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao testing fees is up to 48 times the most expensive in Ren'an Hospital is RMB 4,000
Health Code New Coronary Pneumonia
