The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government will spare no cost in containing viral pneumonia, despite the pinch of the economic slump," Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive of the SAR, has said.

The Press Office said Tuesday that the chief executive made the remarks to the experts and officials at the meeting on the disease control and funding assistance to small businesses Monday.

Ho said that although Macao's economy has been bitterly hit by the spread of the disease in neighboring regions, the priority task of the SAR government should still focus on the disease control and prevention.

The situation in the surrounding regions is turning on a good sign, which has been conducive to Macao's disease control effort, said Ho. The Hong Kong SAR and south China's Guangdong Province have basically curbed the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) with the reduction of the number of newly-infected patients.

Macao's economy, which mainly depends on tourism and gaming industries, has been further dampened by the mainland's decision to shorten the week-long holiday on the Labor Day and Guangdong's ban of outbound travels to Macao last week. However, Ho said, the moves eye on a larger picture of people's interest, since less population flow across the border between Guangdong and Macao could alleviate the chance of the epidemic transmission to Macao, which has no confirmed case of SARS.

He vowed to accelerate the financial assistance program for small and medium-sized businesses to ride through the hard time.

Ho on Monday also endorsed the Health Service the right to independently execute mandatory isolation measures and entry restrictions, and the SAR government promulgated a notice declaring that the spread of rumors on false SARS information should be submitted to criminal punishment.

Despite the foreseeable tourist doldrums in the golden travel season of May, the SAR government has made preparations for the holiday travel tide by putting on a high alert on quarantine checks at the entry checkpoints. Three new infrared outfits will be in service on May 1 to measure visitors' body temperature upon their entry. While, medical staff involved in medical consultative services will be maneuvered to aid border checks or receive SARS treatment training in May.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2003)