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Following is the transcript of the remarks on atypical pneumonia given by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, to the media at the Central Government Offices (New Annex) this evening (April 11):
Good evening. I have stressed time and again that our prime task is to pool together the efforts of the Government and the residents of Hong Kong to stem the spread of atypical pneumonia.
Recently, the number of daily new cases involving medical and nursing staff remains at a high level. Everybody in Hong Kong is worried about this. I have asked the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr E K Yeoh, to do his best to dramatically minimise the number of infections of our medical and nursing staff within the shortest possible timeframe.
Meanwhile, it is worrying to note that the number of infections involving other patients continues to remain at a high level. The Government is and will be making every effort to contain the spread of the disease.
Yesterday we announced that all household contacts of patients would be confined at home for up to 10 days. Our purpose is to minimise the chances of infection spreading. I would like to call for understanding and full cooperation from those who are directly affected. What's more important, I hope that every member of the community will treat the patients and their families sensibly and with understanding.
The most effective way to avoid the disease is to maintain good personal and public hygiene. It is imperative to improve the hygiene of our living environment. I have designated April 19 as a territory-wide cleanliness day. Our Home Affairs Bureau colleagues have already announced the detailed arrangements this morning. I am very glad to know that other community groups will organise similar activities during the Easter holidays. The clean-up day has far-reaching significance. Our goal is to make Hong Kong a truly clean city to safeguard the health of residents through sustained community efforts.
Today our officials met with our Guangdong counterparts to discuss a cross-border mechanism on disease prevention. We have reached consensus on a number of fronts, including the exchange of information, medical cooperation, a notification mechanism and border quarantine arrangement. We will also set up an expert group. I am sure that it will play a pivotal role in preventing and containing the spread of the disease in both places.
We are obviously very concerned to see some countries taking unfavourable actions against Hong Kong because of their worries about our situation. Therefore, I have decided to bar people having close contacts with severe acute respiratory syndrome patients from leaving Hong Kong during the quarantine period with effect from next Monday (April 14). We will also explore with airlines on the way forward to measure the body temperature of people leaving Hong Kong, in a bid to further prevent those likely to be infected to depart. We wish to tell our overseas friends loud and clear that Hong Kong will do our best to prevent the spread. They should not worry about people from Hong Kong spreading the disease.
I would now like to make a few other points:
1. The disease is not air-borne.
2. If a severe acute respiratory syndrome patient gets early treatment, the chance of recovery is more than 90 per cent.
3. We have excellent medical facilities, medical and nursing staff as well as good medical research experts.
4. Our high degree of transparency is widely recognised by local and overseas community.
There is no doubt that we are facing very tough challenges. However, we would do our very best until we have prevailed and won the battle. Thank you very much.
(Please also refer to the Chinese version of the transcript.)
End/Friday, April 11, 2003
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