2 May 2009
Following is the transcript (English portion) made by the Director of Health, Dr PY Lam, at a stand-up media session on closure of school (May 2)):
Reporter:…(question about closure of school)
Director of Health: As I have mentioned just then in Chinese, we have thoroughly examined the epidemiology of the disease in Hong Kong, so far there is only one reported case. We have taken very drastic and precautionary measures to contain the disease. For an initial phase of the pandemic, containment of the disease is the priority and I have not seen any evidence that the virus is already resident or taken root in Hong Kong and transmitted among our population. From our observation, there is not yet scientific justification to recommend closure of schools. But we will be monitoring the situation and working hand in hand with the Education Bureau and take stringent measures to contain infection. If there is any evidence that the virus has taken root in Hong Kong and causes local transmission, then we will seriously reconsider recommending closure of schools.
(Please also refer to the Chinese session of the transcript)