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)