The massive COVID-19 testing in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has finished on Monday, with a total of 1,783,000 people registered and in attendance, said Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday.

Lam thanked the central government for its support, including 579 nucleic acid testing medic workers from the Chinese mainland, and the participation of Hong Kong residents.

A total of 42 positive cases were detected through the city-wide testing, which successfully identified invisible patients in the community and provided effective and systematic data and statistics to make a more accurate assessment of the epidemic situation in Hong Kong, local health authorities said at press conference on Tuesday.

The HKSAR government hosted a farewell meeting for the nucleic acid testing support team from the Chinese mainland on Tuesday. 

After the massive testing in the HKSAR, residents are still able to visit 22 general clinics for virus testing until November 20, according to local health authorities. 

Some social distancing measures will be further relaxed starting from Friday, with bars, party rooms, karaoke bars, swimming pools and theme parks reopening, and restaurants will extend opening hours to midnight until September 24, Lam added. 

Meanwhile, the government announced another round of targeted 4.5-billion-Hong Kong-dollar relief measures to support 23 specific industries deemed to have been hardest hit by the pandemic, like tourism and food and beverage sectors, said Financial Secretary Paul Chan.

The government will continue to strengthen virus detection and group-specific testing to reduce the risk of outbreaks in the community.