Community surveillance showed no sharp increase in the number of
cases of influenza or pneumonia in Hong Kong over the past two
months, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong said
Thursday.
Giving an account on the infection affecting some medical and
nursing staff in some local hospitals at a press conference, Yeoh
said the Hospital Authority (HA) has further strengthened infection
control measures in public hospitals while the Department of Health
(DH) would enhance its education and preventive efforts in the
private health care sector and community.
He
said the special administrative region government is highly
concerned with the recent outbreak and he would personally lead a
steering group comprising experts and officials from HA and DH to
speed up information exchange and coordinate preventive efforts
being taken out by various parties.
As
of Thursday, some 24 public medical and nursing personnel
hospitalized had shown initial signs of pneumonia, two of them were
in serious condition and the rest were all in stable condition.
"The situation is managed in accordance with well-established
procedures of infection control," Yeoh said.
At
the macro level, Yeoh said the government would closely liaise with
Hong Kong's neighbors for information exchange, and invite the
World Health Organization to provide technical support and
advice.
"There is no cause for worry on the part of the public," Yeoh
said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2003)