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The Housing Department today (19 January) conducted a drill to enhance the alertness and preparedness of its frontline staff in dealing with possible resurgence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
The Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands (Housing), Mr Leung Chin-man, witnessed the drill and noted that the Department would stay vigilant against the communicable disease outbreak.
He said the Department was committed to keeping the estate clean through the implementation of the Marking Scheme and called on tenants' support to cleanliness efforts.
The drill today is designed to test the application of the Department's Contingency Plan for SARS Outbreak, which was compiled last month in response to an earlier recommendation by the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau which said that individual departments should devise their own departmental contingency plans.
The Plan sets out clear operational guidelines for staff under a three-level response system, i.e., Alert Level, Level 1 and Level 2, based on the level and nature of risks.
In the simulation exercise, a tenant of Lei Yue Mun Estate was confirmed to have SARS, activating Level 2 of the contingency plan.
A special cleansing team was called in, accompanied by staff from the Department of Health and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, for thorough disinfection of the concerned flat.
Immediate inspection to the drainage system and vent pipe inside the infected unit was also made, together with disinfections and cleaning of other public facilities, including lift lobbies and lifts. About 30 staff and cleansing workers took part in the drill.
"In the wake of the confirmed SARS cases in Guangzhou, the Department has already put in place the action plan at Alert Level and taken immediate action to strengthen cleansing and disinfecting efforts in housing estates and commercial centers," Mr Leung said.
Apart from this, the Department will continue to deter hygiene-related misdeeds through the Marking Scheme. Since August last year, more than 1,260 tenants have been allotted with points for misdeeds such as littering and spitting, among them 16 were allotted with more than ten points each.
"I have paid home visits to some of these tenants. While reminding them not to commit any further misdeeds, I have made it very clear to them that tenants allotted with 16 points or above would have their tenancies terminated."
"In fact, one of our market stall operators has just been served a Notice-to-quit for stall-front obstruction under Marking Scheme after repeated warnings failed to rectify the situation," Mr Leung said.
End/Monday, January 19, 2004
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