HONG KONG - Hong Kong's testing capacity for COVID-19 will be substantially boosted to as many as 500,000 samples per day, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Friday.

The HKSAR government said three national-level testing service providers, namely BGI, KingMed and HybriBio, will carry out nearly 500,000 tests a day when their Hong Kong labs are ready.

BGI has begun preparation for gas membrane nucleic acid testing laboratories at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre.

Hong Kong launched a mass screening scheme on Friday, promising to offer free and voluntary testing to Hong Kong residents in two weeks.

In the meantime, the government has also expanded its testing of special groups to involve foreign domestic helpers, pregnant women, the elderly, students and school faculties, people working in hospitality and public transport, and government employees.