Preventive actions against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong were levered on Monday following the confirmation of the SARS cases in Chinese mainland recently.

Hong Kong's Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong called on relevant government departments to heighten their alertness and preparedness in view of the notification of SARS cases in the Chinese mainland.

His call was made at an interdepartmental meeting Monday morning to review the precautionary measures taken by various government departments in guarding against local re-occurrence of SARS following the activation of the SARS Alert Level last Friday.

As of Monday, there was a total of two confirmed and six suspected cases of SARS in the Chinese mainland, according to the Hong Kong government press release on Monday.

The meeting noted that the Department of Health (DH) had already stepped up health measures at the border control points.

Working hand in hand with the Hospital Authority, it had also enhanced its disease surveillance system to monitor pneumonia patients who had history of travel to Beijing and Anhui province during the 10 days before the onset of symptoms. Meanwhile, the medical community had also been alerted to the incidents and advised to stay vigilant.

On the hospital front, members noted that the Hospital Authority had swiftly convened a meeting to review hospitals' contingency measures which were considered appropriate in response to the latest situation in the Chinese mainland.

Members also noted that guidelines on SARS prevention would be re-circulated to relevant institutions such as elderly homes and travel agencies to remind them to be on guard.

"In view of the high volume of travel during the coming Golden Week holiday, it is important to get ourselves fully prepared for any eventuality so that we can implement the necessary responses quickly if the situation warrants," Yeoh was quoted as saying in the press release.

Noting the laboratory setting was a likely source of infection for the present cases in the Chinese mainland, the DH would revive discussions with the research and service laboratories to ensure that the most rigorous safety measures are adopted with regard to the handling of laboratory specimens and procedures to track down sick staff.

Source: Xinhua