The Department of Microbiology organised the fourth knowledge exchange activity (Coronavirus journey at HKU, IV: Rapid diagnosis and mass on-site screening of COVID-19) for secondary school students on 26th April, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event took place online this year. In the programme Dr Franklin W. N. Chow of our Department first introduced to the secondary school students important concepts on medical virology, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, diagnostic methods for COVID-19 as well as our HKU invention COVID-19-LAMP (presentation materials available Here (1, 2). Then, an online laboratory tour cum experimental demonstration was shown to the audience, followed by an interactive discussion session. Around 115 students and teachers participated in the event.
The main aims of the knowledge exchange programme were:
| 1. | To introduce to secondary school students severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the rapid method for the early diagnosis and mass on-site screening of COVID-19 developed by our team in HKU. |
| 2. | To show secondary school students the state-of-the-art equipment and procedures of COVID-19 diagnosis in HKU. |
| 3. | To arouse the interests of secondary school students on scientific research and impress them on its importance for Hong Kong, China and the world. |
We received a lot of positive feedback from the participants and most of them commented that the workshop was effective in helping them understand the key issues about coronaviruses, especially SARS-CoV-2. The participants also enjoyed the experimental demonstrations a lot. Overall, the knowledge exchange activity helped the participants develop an understanding on the diagnosis of COVID-19 and the critical significance of this to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
| Project team members: | Dr Jade L. L. Teng (Project coordinator) Dr Franklin W. N. Chow Dr Chi-Ching Tsang Professor Susanna K. P. Lau Professor Patrick C. Y. Woo Dr Kin-Hang Kok Dr Man-Lung Yeung |
| Other contributors: | Mr Tony T. Y. Chan Mr Joshua Fung Dr Antonio C. P. Wong |
