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Following is the transcript of remarks (English portion) by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, at a media session on latest development of human swine flu after the Executive Council meeting this morning (May 5):
Chief Executive: The Secretary for Food and Health has just briefed the Executive Council on the latest development of human swine flu in Hong Kong. We have not identified any new case of infection since last Friday.
Over the past few days, the Government has taken some rather difficult decisions. Those decisions were difficult because they affected many people in one way or another. To all affected I wish to say that we thank you for your understanding and forbearance. What we have done is in the interest of both themselves and the public health.
Our thanks and apologies go in particular to those in Metro Park Hotel. You are our guests. You are supposed to be here to enjoy yourselves, visit friends and do business. Now you are confined to the hotel and vacation camp sites. We can appreciate the boredom, frustration and dissatisfaction that the quarantine may have caused you. We don't want to see that either. But to contain a virus which we don't know much about, there's a need for strict action when we discovered the first case. This is for the protection of your as much as the Hong Kong people's health. This is also what we should do as a responsible member of the international community in the global fight against this new virus.
Please be assured that Hong Kong always welcomes you, and that what we are doing now is truly an extraordinary measure in extraordinary times. Meanwhile, we ask for your patience. We will try our best to offer help where possible.
I would also like to salute the hotel management and staff members, who continue to do their best under such a difficult condition.
Fellow citizens, although we don't have a second case yet, we must remain on high alert. This is going to be a long battle. We don't know when we will need to take public health measures that might cause people further inconvenience. But as always, I know that I can count on your understanding and support when it's needed. Thank you.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portions of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:40
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