Four environmental experts from the World Health Organization conducted their first day of inspection here in Amoy Gardens Wednesday, where they took some samples of the walls and pipes of the ventilation systems.

Head of the team Heinz Feldmann noted after the inspection at the residential estate, which is one of the highlights of their three-week stay, that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government has done "an excellent job" in investigation the SARS outbreak there, and they are "very impressed" by the latter's findings.

According to him, their research for the time being is to follow the hypotheses put forward by the HKSAR government in its report to the WHO on the SARS outbreak in Amoy Gardens. They will analyze the samples before deciding if further samplings are needed or not.

Feldmann pointed out that it's most likely that several factors have acted together to promote the outbreak of the SARS virus in Amoy Gardens.

The environmental experts also visited three households of the Amoy Gardens.

Feldmann said the team has been briefed extensively by different government departments and universities on the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong since their arrivals last Sunday.

In addition to Amoy Gardens which has witnessed the contraction of SARS of more than 300 residents, they also plan to visit other places.

The environmental team, from Health Canada, has combined expertise in mechanical ventilation, plumbing systems, airborne monitoring and sampling.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2003)