Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, May 13, 2003
HK Official Briefs WHO on SARS Control ����
Hong Kong Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong, reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) the latest development of the control of severeacute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong Monday.
Hong Kong Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong, reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) the latest development of the control of severeacute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong Monday.
Yeoh told WHO Executive Director of Communicable Diseases DavidHeymann that "we had been able to cap the increase in new confirmed case at single digit since May 4."
"We recorded 4 new confirmed cases Sunday and 5 Monday. Apart from meeting the criterion of exporting no SARS case, we are approaching the second criterion of recording fewer than five cases in three consecutive days," he added.
In view of the difference between Hong Kong discharge policy and that of other places, Yeoh urged WHO to reconsider its criteria to require an overall active case number of 60 before lifting the travel advisory warning.
In order to minimize the risk of spreading the disease in the community, Hong Kong keeps patients in hospitals for an additional week after they have recovered. Therefore, not all SARSpatients in HK hospitals are active cases, he stressed.
He added that of the 399 patients currently in the hospitals, 76 are convalescing while 1,066 out of a total of 1,683 SARS patients recovered and discharged so far.
Yeoh also briefed WHO on the analysis of local transmission. Hepointed out that over the last 10 days, only three SARS cases are reported whose exposure source was not ascertained. Detailed investigation is currently on-going, including looking for other infection, and checking the coronavirus serology status of these patients.