Press Release - April 1, 2003

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government moved a step further in tackling the Atypical Pneumonia outbreak in Hong Kong when residents of Block E of Amoy Gardens, Ngau Tau Kok, were moved to holiday camps for temporary accommodation while the building underwent an in-depth investigation, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food of the HKSAR, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, said last night (April 1).

Addressing a press conference accompanied by the HKSAR Director of Health, Dr Margaret Chan, and the HKSAR Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Mrs Carrie Yau, Dr Yeoh thanked the housing estate residents for their co-operation and understanding in the move.

He said the HKSAR Department of Health had worked non-stop over the past few days to investigate the causes for the outbreak particularly in Block E.

"At this stage we decided that we would need to conduct an in-depth investigation into the facilities and services of the entire building," he said.

In arriving at this decision, the HKSAR government had taken into consideration the fact that "index patient" in this case had visited his relatives living in Block E of Amoy Gardens several times when he developed the disease and had also stayed overnight in Block E.

This and a so-far undiscovered environmental factor were believed to be the reasons for the exceptional number of Atypical Pneumonia cases in Block E.
"Our investigation will include the water supply, sewage pipes and other communal facilities," he said.

It was necessary to evacuate the residents from their premises in order to protect the residents of Block E while investigative work was being carried out.

They were moved to temporary accommodation at two holiday camps, where they still had to be isolated for 10 days until the expiry of the Isolation Order.

Residents were asked for consent to enter their flats in order to conduct detailed examination, he said. The building would be sealed off and sufficient staff deployed to protect law and order.

The existing Ribavirin/steroid treatment was producing a very good response in the majority of cases, he said.
Dr Yeoh said the residents in the holiday camps would be offered the Ribavirin treatment after it was fully explained to them.

Clinicians expected 95 per cent of patients to make a complete recovery if they were treated early, had no pre-existing illness and were not very old.

He appealed to those Amoy Gardens residents who moved out of their apartments before the isolation order was issued to call the HKSAR Department of Health hotline on (852) 187 2222 and arrange for a check up.

For updated information and latest news on respiratory tract infections, please visit the special home page on the subject at www.info.gov.hk/info/infection-e.htm, and the HKSAR Department of Health website at www.info.gov.hk/dh/ap.htm as well as the e-bulletin at www.news.gov.hk/en/index.shtml.