Press Release - May 22, 2003

The following is jointly issued by the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR):

In Hong Kong, there are three new confirmed cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) today (May 22). This is the 19th day in a row that Hong Kong's daily infection cases were in single digits. It is also the seventh consecutive day with a daily figure below five.

Today, there is no SARS case involving healthcare worker. This is the fourth consecutive day that has no healthcare worker infected (May 19, 20, 21 and 22).

A total of 1247 patients have recovered from SARS and have been discharged from public hospitals. Of them, 10 were discharged today. There are now 153 active cases under treatment in hospitals, of whom 42 patients are in intensive care unit. Most of the patients currently in hospital are showing positive responses to the treatment protocol. In addition, 64 are recovering patients in convalescence and in preparation for discharge.

Three patients died in Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) and Caritas Medical Centre (CMC). This brought to 258 the total number of deaths relating to SARS in Hong Kong.

The deceased include three women aged from 70 to 85. Their information is as follows: