Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, after visiting the Prince of Wales Hospital today (August 3):
 
Reporter: Do you think the government underestimated the influenza this year, especially this summer time? Would you consider like hiring more full-time doctors as suggested by the College of Physicians...
 
Secretary for Food and Health: Obviously, the summer surge this year is something that we have not expected. However, the Hospital Authority has acted very fast with a number of short-term measures, including getting some beds from private hospitals, getting part-time doctors as well as providing special honorarium for existing staff and also increasing the number of quotas of general outpatient clinics. So, these are short-term measures. Obviously, in the long term, we have to deal with the manpower problem so that it can truly reflect the service demand. Therefore, in terms of healthcare professionals -- the doctors, the nurses and other allied health professionals including supporting staff, we have to see how best we can work out a plan to increase the manpower.

 (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Thursday, August 3, 2017
Issued at HKT 21:22

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