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The Social Welfare Department (SWD) today (May 1) urged welfare service units to step up precautionary measures in the wake of the first confirmed case of human swine influenza in Hong Kong.
"Welfare service units should step up precautionary measures immediately with reference to the latest guidelines issued by SWD on the prevention of the spreading of influenza as well as the health advice issued by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP)," a spokesman for the department said.
"All these units, including residential care homes for the elderly and for persons with disabilities, should thoroughly cleanse and disinfect their premises immediately."
"In addition, objects and equipment frequently touched by staff and service users should be cleansed and disinfected regularly.
"We hope that they can make the best use of the $10 million grant - $3,000 for each service unit - specially made available to them for this purpose," he added.
Parents of young children should record their body temperature daily before sending them back to day care centres.
Anyone who has developed influenza-like symptoms such as fever, sore throat and cough should consult a doctor for medical advice promptly.
To prevent possible outbreak of influenza, all persons, including staff and service users, with fever and respiratory symptoms are strongly advised to avoid attending the welfare service units till 48 hours after fever has subsided.
For service users of residential care homes who are found to have the symptoms, they should be promptly isolated till 48 hours after fever has subsided.
Any welfare service unit which notices an increase in respiratory illnesses or absenteeism among staff or service users must report to CHP (Tel: 2477 2772; Fax: 2477 2770) for immediate epidemiological investigations and outbreak control.
For the latest information, please see the Daily Update on human swine influenza at the CHP website (http://www.chp.gov.hk).
Ends/Friday, May 1, 2009
Issued at HKT 23:23
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