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The following is jointly issued by the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority:

As at 1 pm today (May 6), there is an additional 9 patients confirmed to have atypical pneumonia following admission to public hospitals earlier. They include two healthcare workers from Baptist Hospital. The remaining 7 are other patients and contacts of patients with atypical pneumonia.

A total of 958 patients have recovered from atypical pneumonia and have been discharged from public hospitals. Of them, 28 were discharged today. There are now 495 patients in hospital, of whom 89 are recovering patients who are in convalescence and preparation for discharge.

Most of the patients currently in hospital are showing positive responses to the treatment protocol. Seventy-three patients are receiving treatment in intensive care unit.

Six patients died in Wong Tai Sin Hospital (WTSH), Queen Mary Hospital (QMH), United Christian Hospital (UCH), Kwong Wah Hospital (KWH) and Tai Po Hospital (TPH). This brought to 193 the total number of deaths relating to atypical pneumonia.

The deceased include four men and two women who are aged from 71 to 87. Their information is as follows:

Hospital        Patient's gender            Age


WTSH                   male                    87


QMH                    male                    82


UCH                    female*                72


KWH                    female*                71


TPH                    male*                  86


                       male*                  84

*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	368 ( +2)	243 ( +10)	193 ( +6)
Patients, family members & visitors	1278 ( +7)	715 ( +18)
Total	1646 ( +9) **	958 ( +28)

Suspected cases

22

*	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 89 recovering patients in convalescence.

End/Tuesday, May 6, 2003

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• Prevention of Atypical Pneumonia