Suspected cases among elderly patients in Tai Po test negative
Seven elderly female patients in a Hong Kong hospital with fever and chest infections yesterday tested negative for Sars.
The patients, aged between 62 and 85, were on the same ward at Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in Tai Po. They had developed mild fever and respiratory tract infections - major symptoms of Sars - since last Saturday, Department of Health community medicine consultant Thomas Tsang Ho-fai said. The women had been admitted for ailments such as heart disease and strokes.
The ward has been closed to visitors and new patients since Thursday night. The ward's other 25 patients have not been affected.
The department took specimens on Thursday and yesterday confirmed all seven tested negative for the Sars virus. The oldest patient died yesterday, while the other six no longer had temperatures.
The hospital said it believed each patient's fever was related to their specific underlying ailments. Still, the hospital said the ward would remain closed and infection-control measures would remain in place.
The hospital was placed on the yellow Sars alert level - the second-highest - on Wednesday, following the confirmation of the Sars case in Taiwan. Yesterday, it appeared spotlessly clean, with staff constantly wiping surfaces and mopping floors with diluted bleach.
Patients and medical workers were all wearing masks and frequently washing their hands. Several expressed optimism that even if Sars returned to Hong Kong, it would be manageable.
'We [the public] have all been prepared, ever since the Sars crisis began, for its return. We won't go to hospitals without a mask,' said Renneca Pang Sin-kwan, a relative of a patient at the hospital. 'The public, the hospital and the government are all on alert.'
