Five possible cases have been reported of a viral pneumonia that has also infected at least 44 people in the inland city of Wuhan
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, second from right, accompanied by Food and Health Secretary Prof. Sophia Chan, right, reviews the health surveillance measures by officers of the Port Health Division at West Kowloon Station in Hong Kong on Friday.Hong Kong authorities activated a newly created “serious response” level Saturday as fears spread about a mysterious infectious disease that may have been brought back by visitors to a mainland Chinese city.
The outbreak, which emerged last month, has revived memories of the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic that started in southern China and killed more than 700 people in the mainland, Hong Kong and elsewhere.The serious response level indicates a moderate impact on Hong Kong’s population of 7.5 million people. It is the second highest in a three-tier system that is part of a new government plan launched Saturday to respond to infectious diseases of unknown cause.
City leader Carrie Lam, on a visit to the train station Friday to review the health surveillance measures, urged any travellers who develop respiratory symptoms to wear surgical masks, seek medical attention and let doctors know where they have been. The Wuhan health commission said 11 of the 44 people diagnosed with the pneumonia were in critical condition as of Friday. All were being treated in isolation and 121 others who had been in close contact with them were under observation.
The most common symptom has been fever, with shortness of breath and lung infections in a small number of cases, the commission said, There have been no clear indications of human-to-human transmission of the disease.
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