Press Releases
SFH on human swine flu (with photo/video)
Following is the transcript of remarks (English portion) made by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, after meeting representatives
of school councils and principals' associations on Hong Kong's preparedness
for human swine flu today (May 14):
Secretary for Food and Health: We met with school representatives today and
had a very good exchange on how we are going to tackle this coming epidemic
of the human swine flu. I have assurance from all the schools that they have
all the preparation and guidelines that are required. And we have also
addressed some of the concerns about some of the arrangements, particularly
that we need to announce closure of kindergartens and primary schools. We
had a very good exchange, we have got assurances from the headmasters of
schools. This is a very constructive meeting. I will also be meeting
representatives from different sectors, to prepare everyone in Hong Kong to
be ready for fighting this epidemic.
Reporter: (inaudible)
Secretary for Food and Health: I think the headmasters worry about a couple
of things. First, whether we will announce the closure of schools in the
middle of the night. I assured them that, with the current understanding of
this epidemic, we probably would have sufficient time to make preparation
before making announcement. So it is very unlikely that we will have to
resort to that sort of timing. And secondly, whether we are too stringent in
classifying primary schools, together with kindergartens. This is done
according to the current understanding of the epidemic, from the limited
literature review we have, and the reports that we have received that the
younger generation, particularly those who are under the age of 15, might
have a higher incidence of transmission and infection. So, our consideration
is to try to have the primary schools and the kindergartens put into one
group, and then the high school into another group. There is also concern
whether we have sufficient information given to them. And when we do that,
we can assure them that if we do any announcement, particularly with
restriction to school activities, then we have to explain well. There is
another concern about the summer activities of the schools, particularly
those schools that have arranged overseas study groups. I have assured them
that if they do that, they have to understand where they are going, and what
they are doing when they get there, and whether they have sufficient
supervision, and also preparation such as protective gear and antiseptics,
and things that they have to carry with them. And in case they get sick,
what they should do. I also advised that everyone should have medical
insurance before they travel. So these are the things most of the teachers
and school principals are concerned with, we have actually responded to most
of them. And other concerns, of course, they might raise eventually with the
Education Bureau, regarding organising modification of the courses and exams
and so on. I believe that Mr Wong has also explained that the bureau will
handle it very flexibly so that everybody would be able to be satisfied.
Reporter: Any particular reason why universities are not going to be closed
down?
Secretary for Food and Health: I think students in the universities are
adults. As I have said earlier and we have to go down the route of
mitigation and also social distancing, then of course we have to address
those questions. But, I think, like adults, if we have to close
universities, we have to close many others too. I hope we don't need to go
down that route as a first step. We are focusing on young children first
because they are more liable to have an infection according to the
literature so far and most of the outbreaks that are reported in North
America. In Europe, it actually arises from schools. So, I think that this
is the more at-risk group that we would want to address first.
Reporter: (expecting an outbreak)
Secretary for Food and Health: We always said that we need to be as
comprehensive as possible in terms of preparation. But I think it is
important that all the stakeholders, particularly the school management,
understand the risk and get everything prepared before the things come.
Whether it comes or not, I don't know. But we are trying to delay it as far
as possible. And eventually when it comes, we have already grasped the
information and all the knowledge about this virus, we will be more able to
treat patients and to protect them.
(Please also refer to the
Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Thursday, May 14, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:49
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(Photo)