Fearful of another Amoy Gardens case, health teams converge on the estate to launch a disinfection programme
A small-scale Sars outbreak at a Sha Tin public housing estate is being investigated by health officials for fear that it might develop into another Amoy Gardens case.
Director of Health Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun revealed yesterday that five people from four households in Wing Shui House, Lek Yuen Estate, had been infected by Sars at different times last month.
Dr Chan said inter-departmental teams had conducted disinfection, pest control and environmental sampling at the Sha Tin block when outbreaks occurred on two separate occasions last month.
'I still have to await the report on the sewerage and whether there are areas that need to be repaired,'' she said.
Amoy Gardens became a major embarrassment for the government in March, at a time when officials were saying that the Sars outbreak had been confined to hospitals, and that there were only sporadic community cases.
