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Following is the transcript (English portion) of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, at a media stand-up session after visiting the Infectious Disease Centre at Princess Margaret Hospital, one of the venues for holding Exercise Chestnut, today (September 21):
Reporter: (on Exercise Chestnut)
Secretary for Food and Health: As I have explained earlier, the exercise has actually been planned for quite some time, and is not aiming at what happened in last two weeks. There was a desktop exercise in April and May this year, but the current one is a field exercise including movement of people and cooperation of 12 units and departments. It also includes a non-government organisation. There are three areas that we aim to examine: the first is the starting of an isolation order of a non-government organisation which is a child centre, the second is the establishment and forming of a quarantine centre at Lady MacLehose Holiday Village and the third is to examine the reaction and operational needs of this infectious disease centre and the control centre which has been established since June this year.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
Ends/Friday, September 21, 2007
Issued at HKT 18:50
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