**************************************
The following is jointly issued by the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority:
As at 1 pm today (May 1), there is an additional 11 patients confirmed to have atypical pneumonia following admission to public hospitals earlier. They include two healthcare workers (from Prince of Wales Hospital). The remaining 9 are other patients and contacts of patients with atypical pneumonia.
A total of 834 patients have recovered from atypical pneumonia and have been discharged from public hospitals. Of them, 43 were discharged today. There are also 102 recovering patients who are in convalescence and preparation for discharge.
Most of the patients currently in hospital are showing positive responses to the new treatment protocol. Eighty-eight patients are receiving treatment in intensive care unit.
Five patients died in Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital (AHNH), Wong Tai Sin Hospital(WTSH) and Kwong Wah Hospital (KWH). This brought to 162 the total number of deaths relating to atypical pneumonia.
The deceased include five men who are aged from 34 to 83. Their information is as follows:
Hospital Patient's gender AgePMH male* 83
male 51
AHNH male* 65
WTSH male* 76
KWH male* 34
*denotes patient with a history of chronic disease
The cumulative figure for patients who have been admitted to public hospitals with atypical pneumonia since March 12 is as follows:
| Nature | Cumulative Number | Total No. of Discharged Patients | Total No. of Deaths * |
| Health care workers of Hospitals/Clinics and medical students | 360 ( +2) | 194 ( +13) | 162 ( +5) |
| Patients, family members & visitors | 1240 ( +9) | 640 ( +30) | |
| Total | 1600 ( +11) ** | 834 ( +43) |
| Suspected cases | 27 |
| * | Most of the deaths occurred in individuals who have a history of chronic diseases, or were patients who sought treatment at a relatively late stage of infection. |
| ** | There are 102 recovering patients in convalescence. |
End/Thursday, May 1, 2003
NNNN
