'Govt failing to monitor Wuhan arrivals properly'

'Govt failing to monitor Wuhan arrivals properly'

Civic Party lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki on Monday accused the government of not stepping up its game to implement steps to monitor arrivals from Wuhan where a mysterious illness has been reported.



Kwok, who is a medical doctor, said other places like Taiwan and Macau have done much better in implementing preventative measures.



"Apart from allowing and encouraging private doctors and hospitals to inform or refer patients, they didn't do anything to combat the spread of this disease," he said.



He said authorities in Taiwan and Macau have started measures like supplying health declaration forms to visitors. "They in fact have asked health personnel to go on board flights coming from Wuhan to check if there were suspected cases," he said.



The lawmaker said he had sought permission to raise an urgent question on this at Legco's full council meeting on Wednesday.



He said the SAR's public hospitals are already inundated with patients due to the flu season and the consequences of lax monitoring could be disastrous if the outbreak spreads to Hong Kong, especially during the coming Lunar New Year holiday.



According to authorities, there are 16 people in local hospitals who are being monitored after they fell ill following trips to Wuhan.



Five of the 16 total suspected cases had been discharged as of Sunday. Ten of them have tested positive for known flu strains, or the common cold.