Since mid-July, private labs were called in to help. They have carried out tests for 137,000 people classified as high-risk groups and detected 54 infections. It was then estimated that there may still be 1,500 infected people among the city's 7.5 million residents.
Lam said such universal testing is only possible with the central government's support.
The central government will provide the resources for testing, including testing kits and sending a 60-member testing team. Three national-level testing labs will help to drastically expand testing capacity, she said.
Earlier, in an interview with Xinhua News Agency, medical expert Yu Dewen, who leads the mainland team, vowed to boost Hong Kong's testing capacity by 20 times to test 100,000 to 200,000 people a day.
Lam expressed anger over irresponsible accusations raised by a small minority that attempted to smear the generosity by the central government.
The vast majority of Hong Kong people can feel the central government's care and concern, she added.
The central government has been very consistent in offering help to Hong Kong over the past 23 years, whether in areas of public health, financial crisis or economic development, she said.
That's what it means to be one country, she said. The central government is willing to share its experience and medical resources built up in its fight against the pandemic in Wuhan, Hubei province, Beijing, and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Hong Kong people should be thankful for the care the central government has for Hong Kong, she added.
More mainland support teams would help the city to build more treatment facilities in the community to receive patients. Lam said this would reduce the great pressure on already-strained local public hospitals, and prepare the city for another possible outbreak this coming winter.
They will help expand the 500-bed makeshift hospital at the Asia-World-Expo with an additional 1,000 sick beds. A temporary hospital will be built beside the expo with 800 to 1,000 beds in the months to come.
