Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Saturday said some 100 people from the Metropark Hotel, where the Mexican man with Influenza A/H1N1 once stayed, are being isolated and in stable condition.
Speaking on a local radio show on Saturday morning, Chow said up till 7 a.m., 188 guests, visitors and staff at the Metropark Hotel located in Wanchai, Hong Kong Island were being quarantined in the hotel, hospitals or the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung. Of them, 65 felt slightly unwell, a total of 180 have been given medication.
The Mexican man, 25, was confirmed on May 1 to be the first Influenza A H1N1, formerly known as human swine flu, case in the city. He has been admitted to the Princess Margaret Hospital and is stable.
The patient arrived in Hong Kong via Shanghai on April 30 on the China Eastern Airlines flight MU505 and checked in the Metropark Hotel.
Among the 36 passengers sitting in three rows in front of and behind the Mexican man on the MU505 flight, six had already left Hong Kong. Altogether 19 passengers on the flight have contacted the local health authorities and are now being monitored at different hospitals. The Shanghai authorities are contacting the cabin crew.
Chow urged the two taxi drivers and others who have had contact with the Mexican patient to call the Center for Health Protection as soon as possible.
"The next seven days are very crucial. The government will not take any risks and will do our best in preventing the virus from spreading in the community," he said.
To ensure sufficient staff, the Hong Kong Hospital Authority has canceled a medical conference scheduled on May 4.
"We have sufficient supply of anti-flu medication and we have liaised with pharmaceutical companies to increase our stock," Chow added.
(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2009)
