Monday, September 22, 2003
HK to employ three-tier contingency system to battle Sars: Yeoh

KIT LAU

Updated at 6.10pm:
Hong Kong would employ a three-tier contingency system to battle Sars f the virus returned, Heath Chief Yeoh Eng-kiong said on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference to brief reporters on the government's checklist to combat the disease, Dr Yeoh said measures to prevent and control severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) would be ready by the end of the month.

The Health Welfare and Food Bureau, the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority would be in an "alert mode" - the first tier of the system - once a new Sars case was confirmed outside Hong Kong.

Once a Sars case was discovered in the territory, the government would set up a steering committee within 12 hours to handle a possible outbreak. Dr Yeoh would head the committee and co-ordinate actions between the Hospital Authority, the Department of Health and other government departments.

If there were signs of the disease spreading across the community, the government would activate the final tier of the contingency system with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa directing the battle against Sars.

To protect residents of elderly homes from Sars, the Department of Health and the Social Welfare Department would visit nursing homes before the end of October to inspect Sars precautionary measures. The Housing Department would also step up disinfection work at housing estates from September.
Dr Yeoh said the worst scenario was that the virus had mutated and become more difficult to identify.

"We are most worried that the virus has mutated and patients are showing symptoms different from that of the earlier outbreak… if the symptoms have changed we may not know even if an outbreak has occurred at the community level," Dr Yeoh said.

To cope with the influx of tourists, the government would hire 60 more people at immigration checkpoints to inspect the health conditions of travellers to ensure no Sars cases were imported into Hong Kong, Director of Health Lam Ping-yan said.

The establishment of an institution similar to the United States' Centre for Disease Control and Prevention was underway, Dr Lam added.

The installation of some 1,200 isolation beds was continuing and most would be available by the end of October, Hospital Authority Chief Executive William Ho Shiu-wai said.

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