The Chief Executive on Friday morning canceled her daily Covid-19 press conference due to "a change in schedule arrangements," sparking rumors that she headed north to discuss issues related to the May 8 poll with the Central Government.

Reports also quoted sources saying she met Xia Baolong, director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Shenzhen.

Lam this morning only said she didn't make any such announcement, and she won't clarify any assumptions made by the public. She added that parts of her schedule won't be disclosed to the public and underlined that the nomination period will begin as planned starting Sunday (Apr 3) to April 16.

On another note, the government starting Saturday will distribute anti-pandemic bags to citizens for seven days, providing supplies like 20 rapid antigen testing kits, 20 KN95 masks, and traditional Chinese medicine.

Lam said she hoped citizens would conduct daily rapid testing between next Friday (Apr 8) and Sunday (Apr 10) voluntarily and report to health authorities as soon as possible if the results return positive.

However, Lam insisted that the arrangement is not to replace the citywide compulsory testing scheme and admitted that the government does not have a relevant timetable at this point.

She continued that legally speaking, the government could hardly restrict and mandate citizens to undergo rapid tests, and that's where the public need to exercise their social responsibility.

She also noted that the measure is not a scientific approach, and there may be an error in the results.