The Home Affairs Department will launch a programme to provide a voluntary one-off free COVID-19 testing service for pregnant women on August 10.

The department today said in view of the severity of the epidemic and a recently confirmed case involving a new mother, it is understandable that expectant mothers may be worried about the health of themselves and their fetuses.

It, therefore, partnered with the Board of Directors of Yan Chai Hospital (YCHB) to implement the Community Testing Programme for COVID-19 for Pregnant Women on a trial basis till August 15.

The programme ties in with the Government's strategy of "early identification, early isolation and early treatment of the infected", the department added.

YCHB will distribute registration forms and throat swab self-sampling kits to pregnant women or family members who collect the kits on their behalf at 11 designated collection points from next Monday to Friday.

Participants are required to show a certificate of pregnancy upon collecting the self-sampling kit.

The forms and samples for testing must be returned on the following day with the participant's certificate of pregnancy for verification.

After the registration forms and specimen bottles are collected, YCHB will pass them to the testing agency, Sunrise Diagnostic Centre Limited, for testing.

Upon completion of the testing, the agency will send a report of the results to each pregnant woman to facilitate their admission to a hospital or their delivery arrangements. YCHB will also send the report to participants by mail.

The programme will offer 5,000 quotas and be reviewed afterwards.

Call 6289 4097 for enquiries.