UpdateHong Kong hospitals step up inspections against Mers as suspected cases rise in the city
Hospitals step up inspections as government broadens criteria to warrant testing for the virus, sparking fear in the wider community
More public hospitals in the city have stepped up inspections against the Middle East respiratory syndrome in response to the spike in the number of cases in South Korea.
Dr Seamus Siu Yuk-leung, who works at Caritas Medical Centre's intensive care unit, said his department had received internal instructions asking them to screen all seriously ill patients suffering from severe respiratory infections for the virus, even if they had not visited South Korea or the Middle East.
Siu, chairman of the Frontline Doctors' Union, said it would mean extra sets of blood samples being taken from such patients, with one sample to be sent to the Centre for Health Protection and another to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung.
As the government broadened the criteria on Tuesday for suspected cases to cover anyone who has visited South Korea and had flu-like symptoms, more such cases were reported.
The number of suspected cases jumped to more than 30 yesterday, excluding the four cases reported in private medical centres in Tsing Yi, Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and Tung Chung.
Among cases reported yesterday, 17 initially tested negative. Today, the remaining 16 cases all tested negative as well.