An emergency taskforce responsible for the round-the-clock command of prevention and control of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the Macao Special Administrative Region took office at 9:00 p.m. Saturday shortly after the first SARS case was confirmed.
Chui Sai On, secretary for social affairs and culture and also newly appointed commander of the taskforce, said that the cross-sectoral taskforce has moved into the office arranged in the building of the Tourist Center Macao to start its work.
Chui said at the first press conference given by the inaugural taskforce, which includes officials with the Health Service and the Macao Center of Disease Prevention and Control, Saturday night that Macao has reported the SARS case to the Chinese Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization.
He said that after the disease broke out in Macao's surrounding areas of Guangdong and Hong Kong for nearly half a year, Macao has made sufficient preparations for the SARS prevention and control.
The taskforce which directly reports work to Macao's Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah is responsible for making timely release of SARS infection information, while keeping a close contact with WHO, the Chinese Ministry of Health and health departments in neighboring Hong Kong and Guangdong Province.
A 29-year-old Macao resident was confirmed to have contracted Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) after the PCR test of his respiratory secretion proved positive of coronavirus, the Health Service of the Macao Special Administrative Region announced Saturday night.
He was the first SARS patient in Macao, which had remained immune of the viral disease for over half a year after the outbreak of SARS in its surrounding regions of Guangdong province and Hong Kong.
(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2003)
