The Transport Department today announced that a new round of voluntary COVID-19 testing services will be arranged for taxi and public light bus drivers as well as local ferry operator employees from January 25.

The free virus testing services for taxi and minibus drivers will be available from January 25 to February 7. Drivers may make an appointment via the department's dedicated online booking system from tomorrow.

Those who have made an appointment should bring their original Hong Kong identity card, valid taxi driver identity plate or public light bus driver identity plate and the booking confirmation SMS, and visit the selected testing centre during the appointment time slot.

Testing agency duty officers will assist drivers with the registration, collect their specimens by combined nasal and throat swabs and deliver the specimens to the laboratory for testing.

As no personal information will be indicated on the specimen bottles, the testing agency will only have records of the bottles' barcode numbers and will not collect personal information.

Drivers who have a negative test result will receive an SMS notification, while cases with positive results will be relayed to the Centre for Health Protection for follow-up.

Taxi drivers who have completed the testing will be given a Participation Tag for Taxi Drivers at the testing centre and may display the tag at a prominent position in their taxis.

Regarding the testing service for employees of local ferry operators, the employees have already been notified to bring their valid staff identity cards or letters issued by the operators during specific time slots from January 25 to 28 to undergo the test at specified locations.

The department strongly appealed to taxi and minibus drivers and local ferry operator employees to participate in the testing to assist in safeguarding public health and minimise the risk of community transmission.