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The Government today (May 16) welcomed the findings of an independent investigation into the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak at Amoy Gardens conducted by the Environmental Health Team of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Speaking at a press conference, the Deputy Director of Health, Dr Leung Pak-yin, said the Government has noted that their findings largely corroborated the earlier findings of Hong Kong investigation team.
"The fact that the WHO team reached similar conclusions through an independent exercise has given us great confidence that we understand the outbreak at Amoy Gardens. The WHO team has done an excellent job," he said.
Dr Leung noted that both the findings of the WHO and the Department of Health indicated that the outbreak at Amoy Gardens was highly likely to be caused by a combination of events.
Both investigation results pointed to the dry floor drain traps in the bathrooms of individual apartments which had provided an open connection to the soil stack through which contaminated droplets were drawn into the bathrooms when the exhaust fans were turned on.
The droplets could have been drawn into the light-well by the powerful exhaust fans and re-entered into other apartments by natural currents through open windows.
The WHO Environmental Health Team was invited by the Director of Health to conduct an independent and objective investigation into the risk factors involved in the possible environmental transmission of SARS in residential buildings in Hong Kong.
The team has been in Hong Kong for about three weeks and has now completed its study. The team held a press conference this morning to release the findings of the investigation.
The WHO Environmental Health Team is headed by Dr Heinz Feldmann, an infectious disease specialist and virologist. He is assisted by a panel of other experts in virology, epidemiology and building system services.
"The WHO team has conducted a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the Amoy Gardens incident and we now hope the residents of Amoy Gardens could resume their normal life," Dr Leung said.
Turning to other findings in the WHO initial report, Dr Leung said, "the team had reported that the physical condition of Amoy Gardens met international standards."
The findings of the WHO Environmental Health Team will re-assure Amoy Gardens residents that their blocks are safe. The fact that the team has not been able to find any genetic material of the virus in the building indicates the effectiveness of the cleansing and disinfection work which had been thoroughly undertaken before the residents were allowed to move back into the building.
The WHO's findings highlight the need for apartment owners and managers to be aware of the possibility of an open connection between the sewerage system and the bathroom floor drains and to ensure that the latter is either sealed if not in use or fully charged with water.
The WHO Team has observed that the occurrence of a major outbreak similar to Amoy Gardens will likely be slim since this would require an unusual combination of environmental and health events all happening simultaneously.
"We will on our part continue to remain vigilant and will step up our educational efforts to make owners aware of their maintenance responsibility and to advise the public on proper personal and hygiene practices," he said.
End/Friday, May 16, 2003
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