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The Chief Excutive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, met with Premier Wen Jiabao in Bangkok yesterday (April 29) and briefed him on the latest situation in the fight against atypical pneumonia in Hong Kong.
Mr Tung was in Bangkok to take part in the Special ASEAN-China Leaders' Meeting on the outbreak of atypical pneumonia as a main member of the Chinese delegation.
Hong Kong was making progress in combating the disease and the number of new cases was stabilising and even showing a downward trend, Mr Tung said. However, he stressed that the government would have to work harder to reduce the number of infections among healthcare workers and to increase the rate of recovery.
Premier Wen said he believed that the Hong Kong Special Administration Region Government, the community and frontline healthcare workers had given an all-out effort to combat atypical pneumonia. He also noted that there had been an encouraging development that the atypical pneumonia situation in Hong Kong had stablised.
Premier Wen said he had received a report addressed to the State Council from the Chief Executive on the need for medical supplies. He stressed that the Central Government had set up task force groups to co-ordinate and supervise the production of materials, so that sufficient supplies would be available in time should there be a need in Hong Kong. All supplies would be made in accordance with Hong Kong specific requirements.
The Central Government would also, if necessary, arrange nursing staff to support Hong Kong, he said.
The Chief Executive also briefed Premier Wen on a package of measures introduced recently in Hong Kong to relieve the impact of the disease on the economy. Premier Wen said he understood the need for the measures, and stressed that if Hong Kong faced economic difficulties, the Central Government would give its strong support to Hong Kong as it had done before.
The Chief Executive expressed gratitude for the generous support offered by the Central Government. He noted that although some places on the Mainland also faced the threat of the spread of atypical pneumonia, the Central Government was still prepared to relocate resources to help Hong Kong. He said that the people of Hong Kong would unite together to overcome the challenge posed by the outbreak of the disease.
End/Wednesday, April 30, 2003
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