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Hong Kong
Info about Hong
Kong
Was a British dependency from 1842 until July 1, 1997, became
a special administrative region (SAR) of China, the size of 420 square
miles (1,100 square kilometer). Population more than 7.3 million; one
of the highest population density in the world (17,400 per square mile)
May 11: SARS Figures
|
Nature
|
Cumulative Number
|
Total No. of Discharged
Patients
|
Total No. of
Deaths
|
|
Health care workers of Hospitals/Clinics and medical students
|
370 (  0)
|
273 ( 4)
|
215 ( 3)
|
|
Patients, family members & visitors
|
1,308 ( 4)
|
786 ( 20)
|
|
Total
|
1,678 ( 4)
*
|
1,059 ( 24)
|
|
*
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There are 78
recovering patients in convalescence.
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May 6, 2003
Hong Kong reported 9 new SARS cases today, including 2 health care workers
and 7 contacts of patients known to have had SARS. To date, Hong Kong
has reported a cumulative total of 1646 probable cases and 193 deaths.
The number of new cases (in the single digits for the last several days)
has steadily declined, suggesting that the outbreak has peaked. Epidemiological
data submitted to WHO today indicate three apparent peaks of SARS in
Hong Kong: the Prince of Wales Hospital outbreak (18 March), the Amoy
Gardens outbreak (30 March), and a smaller outbreak in the outlying
region of Tai Po (11 April).
Since 29 March, Hong Kong has introduced medical posts, supported by
infrared temperature scanners, at its border points. All incoming travellers
are now required to sign health declarations. As of 14 April, the government
has prohibited close contacts of SARS patients from leaving Hong Kong,
by monitoring residents via their Hong Kong Identity Card numbers. As
a result of these routine checks, 37 people have been referred to health
authorities. Of these, two were later confirmed to be SARS cases.
Hong Kong is also employing a strategic computer system to facilitate
contact tracing and to identify addresses and names of close contacts
of SARS patients. Geographic clusters of SARS cases, or so-called "hot
spots" in certain buildings throughout the territory have been
identified using this scheme. The government maintains data on cases
and their contacts in a centralized, dedicated eSARS database.
Dr Yeoh also announced today that no new cases associated with the Amoy
Gardens outbreak have occurred for 20 days. Hong Kong has recently launched
several public information and education campaigns to increase SARS
awareness. These efforts have been successful in encouraging people
experiencing symptoms to seek prompt medical care, thus reducing the
time when people capable of spreading the virus are circulating in the
community.
April 17:
The Hong Kong Department of Health, together with the Department of
Environment, Transport and Works, has today released the results of
an extensive investigation into the possible cause of a large cluster
of SARS cases among residents in the Amoy Gardens housing estate. The
report draws on findings from numerous studies designed to determine
whether an environmental source of the SARS virus might explain the
large and unusual cluster of SARS cases.
As of 15 April, health authorities had reported a total of 321 individuals
affected by SARS who are residents in Amoy Gardens. A large proportion
of cases are concentrated in vertically linked flats in a single building,
Block E.
Attention has focused on possible transmission via the sewage system.
Among several unusual features, the Amoy cluster includes a high proportion
of cases presenting with diarrhoea, estimated at about 60%. In most
other clusters of cases, diarrhoea has typically been seen in only 2%
to 7% of cases.
April 12:
Hong Kong has today reported a cumulative total of 1108 cases with 35
deaths. This represents an increase of 49 new cases admitted to hospital
with symptoms of SARS, and 3 deaths when compared with yesterday. Of the
cases newly admitted to hospital, 3 are in health care workers, and 11
are from the Amoy Gardens housing estate.
The majority of Hong Kong's cases are clustered in hospitals and in the
densely populated Amoy Gardens housing estate. Health authorities are
continuing to investigate a possible environmental factor that may explain
the concentration of cases in a single wing of a single building, Block
E. Health officials are also investigating whether an outbreak in a second
housing estate may be related to the Amoy Gardens outbreak.
The Department of Health has today posted on its web site a detailed list
of buildings where residents have developed SARS.
April 11:
Hong Kong, with 998 cases and 30 deaths, is presently the hardest hit
area. Health care workers continue to become infected in a growing number
of hospitals. WHO learned this week that the chief executive of the
Prince of Wales Hospital - the initial epicenter of the Hong Kong outbreak
- is hospitalized with atypical pneumonia. Hospitals are becoming overwhelmed.
A decision to suspend all primary, secondary, special schools and kindergartens
until 6 April has been extended up to 21 April.
Most disturbing is a large cluster of 268 SARS cases linked to the Amoy
Gardens estate of high-rise apartment buildings. The vast majority of
Amoy Gardens cases have been traced to vertically linked apartments
in a single building, Block E. This pattern of transmission indicates
that the disease has moved out of the health care setting and is now
occurring within the community as secondary cases. Epidemiologists investigating
the Amoy Gardens outbreak are considering the hypothesis that some form
of environmental contamination, perhaps linked to a sewage or ventilation
system, is the source of the large cluster of cases. Although transmission
through the faecal-oral route is being considered as one possibility,
no evidence of airborne transmission has been demonstrated to date.
Virus has not been detected in animals, including cockroaches and rodents.
Yesterday (April 10), health authorities in Hong Kong announced that
all household contacts of confirmed SARS patients will be required to
confine themselves at home for up to 10 days with immediate effect.
Household contacts can choose between confinement in their homes and
confinement in holiday camps. No visitors are allowed during the confinement
period, and permission to leave homes or camps will be granted only
on exceptional grounds. During the confinement period, the Hong Kong
Department of Health will conduct medical checks to monitor health,
and the police force will conduct compliance checks.
April 9: heavy
burden on the health system
With today's cumulative
total of 970 cases and 27 deaths, Hong Kong continues to have the largest
SARS outbreak, second to China. The strain on health services and staff
is considerable, and strengthened measures of infection control may
be needed.
The isolation order placed on Block E, Amory Gardens will expire at
midnight, April 9. The Hong Kong Health Department has announced that
residents, temporarily housed at camps, may return home after their
flats have been disinfected by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.
Latest Figures on
SARS (as at 1 pm, 3 April 2003)
| Nature |
Total
Admission (The numbers in bracket are those with pneumonia symptoms) |
Health
care workers of Hospitals/
Clinics and medical students |
177
(177)
53 of the patients were discharged
|
| Patients,
family members & visitors |
557
(557)
45 of the patients were discharged
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| Total
admission |
734
(734)
98 were discharged
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March 31/April 1: Block E of the 33-storey Amoy Gardens apartment
complex with 240 people inside was sealed off Monday. All of them were
taken Tuesday night in vans to two quarantine centers set up in two holiday
camps, one in the suburban New Territories and one on Hong Kong Island.
- Dr. Leung Pak-yin, Deputy Director of Health
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