Press Release - April 2, 2003

Following is the transcript of a media session about atypical pneumonia held by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Mr Tung Chee Hwa, tonight (April 2) in Hong Kong:

CE of HKSAR: It's been 23 days since the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and it is understandable that there is a great deal of anxiety in the community because so much of this is new to everybody, there are so many unknown factors out there. But there are also positive aspects of this. What I have seen is a tremendous community spirit in fighting this disease, and we are receiving a great many constructive suggestions as to how to go about it. The press, on the whole, has also been supportive, working together with the HKSAR Government to find solutions and make concrete suggestions. Every day, I'm holding meetings with my Government colleagues, looking at the progress that has been made, what other areas that we need to be further concerned with. And I believe that we as a government now have a good grasp of the whole situation.

Let's look at the numbers. The number of confirmed cases, admitted to hospital, is 708, an increase of 23 over the day before. Of that, 89 have been discharged from hospital because they have been cured. All these people are either from Prince of Wales cases or the Amoy Gardens area. Insofar as the Prince of Wales cases, you can see these interesting numbers: over the last few of days, the number of cases reported is steady at about 20 every day. The total number that was reported today in all was 23, and I believe, I hope that the numbers will continue to improve. Since Monday, of the four designated clinics we have set up, every day there have been 600 people who have come to the clinics and have been subject to our careful examination. And if they are all right, they in fact come back again the next day to have a further check until the time period of 10 days expires. If they are not all right, they are in fact sent to hospital. As far as the Amoy Gardens cases are concerned, our main focus is on Block E, where we feel there are problems. The residents of Block E have been removed and we are now focusing on finding out what are the reasons, the channels of the spreading of the disease and we hope that in not too many days' time, we will be able to tell everybody what we believe has happened.

The most important thing I want to say is that the medical treatment we are providing is showing tremendous promise. In cases of earlier treatment, a success rate of over 90 per cent is being reported and as you know 89 people have been discharged and in the days to come, many more will be discharged. It's a really difficult and challenging time for us and I think we need to look at these facts and to understand particularly that there is a cure there -- it can be cured, it takes two to three weeks and many have now recovered and are out and about already. We need to work hard, consistently apply the methodology that Dr Yeoh has been applying and eventually we will win this fight.

Of course, this is not just about Hong Kong, and co-operation with the Central Government, co-operation with Guangdong Province is very important. We have been in constant touch with the Central Government and we are also talking with the Guangdong Health Authority about setting up a mechanism, a quick mechanism for us to work more closely, to collaborate on this particular disease, but also in the future to collaborate on all other forms of diseases of this nature. We are now at a really critical time, but we believe we understand where the illness is coming from, how we can treat these illnesses and we should further move forward based on the experience we have gathered over the last 20 days, work very hard in the direction we have set. And I am sure that in the days to come we hope that there will be signs of improvement.

Reporter: What is your reaction to the WHO's travel alert?

CE of HKSAR: Before the announcement of the WHO travel advisory, we had actually noticed all the cancellations of people who had planned visits to Hong Kong - whether in the area of commerce, whether they were coming for a good time, or to visit friends and relatives. And this is understandable. What WHO has done is merely a confirmation of what has been happening. What I do want to emphasise is that we are working very hard, and the important thing is for us to continue in the direction we are continuing in, as we have every confidence in the way we are tackling the issue, which is very transparent for everyone to see. In time, very soon you will see a gradual improvement coming through. And the best proof eventually will be in the facts. In the meantime, of course, we will be communicating with WHO in areas where they need to understand better what we are doing, and we will be working very hard with them in presenting the facts and figures, and hopefully in time they will make changes.

Reporter: Please repeat you answer on the economy in English.

CE of HKSAR: The question was whether we should be worried about the economy and I was saying, of course we should be worried about the economy. Tourism is down, it has been very important to us over the past two quarters to sustain our growth, consumer spending is down for understandable reasons. Obviously we are concerned. The Financial Secretary and others are really looking at this thing carefully to see what needs to be done. But let me emphasise - my priority at this very moment is about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. We need to win that battle, and we will. Thank you very much.

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.