HONG KONG -- Nearly 800,000 Hong Kong residents have pre-registered for the mass COVID-19 testing launched by the government as of evening of Sept 2.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said in a statement that some 278,000 people have taken the testing since the launch of the Universal Community Testing Program (UCTP) on Tuesday.

About 49,000 specimens collected under the UCTP have been tested, the government said.

A government spokesman said that the UCTP aims to identify asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in the community and stop further infections with the disease.

He urged all residents to join the testing and work together to cut the virus transmission chain so as to facilitate the gradual resumption of normal daily lives and economic activities.

The UCTP has been backed by the central government, which has sent medical resources and professionals to boost Hong Kong's testing capacity.

With another 89 members arriving in Hong Kong Wednesday, there are currently more than 300 members from mainland medical support teams in Hong Kong to help the anti-epidemic fight.

The "Fire Eye Laboratory" built by mainland testing service provider BGI is responsible for testing the specimens of the UCTP. The lab can cope with 100,000 nucleic acid tests a day and its capacity can be further expanded to as many as 500,000 if using mixed-together testing methods.