The situation in the next period of time has taken a turn for a while.

On March 12, the WHO issued the first SARS warning to the world, describing the atypical pneumonia that occurred in Vietnam and Hong Kong.

On March 15, the WHO issued a second SARS warning to the world, proposing the concept of SARS, as well as the definition of suspected and possible SARS cases, and issuing emergency travel guidelines related to SARS. It calls on the world to increase vigilance about SARS, remind medical staff and travelers to pay attention to the symptoms of SARS, and recommends that cases be reported immediately. The US CDC issues a health warning about SARS to physicians.

On March 17, WHO set up a virtual research network to share public health information through telephone and the Internet. It includes: 11 laboratories in 9 countries, epidemiological research in 9 regions, 78 clinical experts in 9 countries, WHO coordinated global collaboration to find SARS pathogens, and Hong Kong, China, joined the group.

On March 24, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced to the media that a member of the coronavirus family who had never seen before was the most likely cause of SARS, and the center has not obtained experimental progress on paramyxovirus.

On the same day, Singapore's Health Minister ordered hundreds of people who were exposed to SARS to isolate at home for ten days.

On March 25, the Canadian Director of Health declared SARS a must-report, contagious and toxic disease, a regulation that gives health officials the right to track infected people and direct them to stop activities that may spread SARS.

At this time, more than 20 people had direct contact with a group of people at the middle elevator of the Jinghua International Hotel in Hong Kong had died, and SARS cases were found in 14 countries.

On March 26, Ontario, Canada declared a state of public health emergency and directed thousands of people to quarantine at home.

Some countries have taken the maximum measures, including quarantine, to stop the further spread of SARS.

WHO held an electronic meeting attended by 80 clinical experts from thirteen countries to conduct the first global "SARS round".

China updated the number of SARS cases and reported 792 cases in seven cities in Guangdong Province from November 16 last year to February 28 this year, 21 of which died.

On March 27, the WHO issued a third SARS warning to the world, requiring airlines to conduct SARS screening passengers on flights departing from Toronto, Hong Kong, Singapore, Hanoi, Taiwan and Guangdong Province, China.

On the same day, Singapore closed schools and a Taiwan engineering company closed down, causing Taipei to issue a medical warning because five of its employees showed SARS symptoms.

On March 28, the Chinese government officially joined the WHO's global cooperation network, increasing the network's members to thirteen research rooms in ten countries. On the same day, the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong announced that the coronavirus had been isolated from tissue specimens of SARS patients and it was inferred that it might be a pathogenic pathogen.

It is also at this point that the first WHO physician to discover SARS died of SARS due to SARS.

On March 31, the Hong Kong Department of Health issued unprecedented quarantine regulations to prevent the further spread of SARS, requiring residents of Block E of Taota Garden to stay at home until midnight on April 9. Taota Garden is a residential area with nearly 15,000 residents. More than 200 residents in this residential area were hospitalized for SARS.

The base of more than ten residential buildings in Taoda Garden is the three-story Taoda Shopping Mall.

Every noon, the mall is bustling inside and outside, and it is very lively. The mother and her children are playing in the children's playground. The female middle school student who has just finished school is slowly visiting comic shops and video shops. Several young couples are sitting in the fairy forest drinking drinks while having a warm conversation. The Japanese fast food restaurant Yoshinoya is full, and the office worker is lying on the beef set meal.

The middle hall on the ground floor is even more crowded. In order to attract residents to consume, various promotional activities are often launched in the mall. Dozens of citizens lined up in the middle of the mall, waiting to receive prizes and tickets.

Everything at this time seemed so peaceful, and there was no slight silence. It was only located at the disinfection stations at various intersections in the mall. It reminded you to pay attention to personal hygiene. Walk over and press it gently. The disinfectant containing alcohol was dripped on the palm of your hand.

The Santa Ana Cake House on the street is in a striking place outside the store, with signs hanging to declare the strict precautions taken to make citizens feel at ease to buy. Many fashion stores and cosmetics stores attract customers with discounts, with 30% off, and some even as low as 50% off.

Most Hong Kong people don’t eat regular meals but like to drink tea. They walk into Hongxing Seafood Restaurant in the community and welcome the guests warmly greet the guests.

The lady told everyone that the business is now hit by the SARS epidemic. At the worst, there were not as many guests as the waiters. In order to attract customers, this restaurant has launched price discounts for lunch and dinner.

"The first phase of Taoda Garden was completed in 1981, and the last phase was launched in 1987. The house area is large and small, with more than 30 floors high, with eight units on each floor. There are 19 residential buildings in the entire community, from A to S, and tens of thousands of citizens live here day and night. Among them, the most hit by the epidemic is Building E." The Finance Secretary of the SAR Government, who accompanied Fan Heng and others to inspect Taoda Garden, introduced to them, "On March 31, the Hong Kong government issued the first quarantine order, requiring all residents of Building E to stay at home for quarantine. The next night, the Hong Kong government took further measures to move all residents of Building E to the isolation center far away from the prosperous city and be isolated and observed for ten days. That night, all Hong Kong citizens were inevitably uneasy. Faced with extraordinary measures in extraordinary times, the residents of Building E were in a tragic mood, but they all set out calmly."

Fan Heng nodded, feeling uneasy.

Within more than ten days after the successful conclusion of the Two Sessions, the situation of SARS prevention and control at home and abroad can be said to have taken a sharp turn for the worse, especially in Hong Kong, with the large number of infected people and the high proportion of deaths, which has made everyone feel panic. This time, Fan Heng inspected the epidemic prevention work of the SAR government on behalf of the central government, which is actually a move to calm people's hearts.

The Hong Kong media was also in a mess at this time. After all, the sudden outbreak of the SARS epidemic made everyone feel in danger. However, after Fan Heng suddenly led a delegation to visit the SAR and inspected the epidemic prevention situation and went deep into the Taoda Garden, where the disaster was the most serious, people suddenly felt relieved. Everyone felt hopeful. There were not many national leaders of this level who came to the Hong Kong SAR to inspect the work, especially at such a critical moment. Such heavyweight figures came to the scene in person, regardless of safety, which was enough to show the strong support of the central government for the SAR government.

Therefore, it is not only the SAR government and the people who were inspired, but also various companies and media have made positive responses, saying that everyone has strengthened their confidence and believes that after facing the problem and taking severe measures, Hong Kong will overcome the difficulties.

Regarding the latest situation, it should be relatively optimistic.

First, Hong Kong has ready-made laws for enforcement, which helps curb Atypical pneumonia. This time, Hong Kong uses the "Epidemic Prevention and Quarantine Ordinance" left by the UK. It has not been used for more than 100 years, but this time it is used. The regulations stipulate that not only patients must be isolated, but those who have contacted patients must also report to the relevant departments and authorities regularly. Violators are fined RMB 5,000 or jail for six months.

It is said that there is no such regulation in the United States, so Americans are worried that if stricter measures are needed when the epidemic spreads, there is a legal basis. Because the United States needs to isolate patients, and there is no legal basis for enforcing them when it comes to human rights issues.

Second, Hong Kong officials and citizens are generally of good quality, and the government's reasonable decisions will be implemented smoothly.

Third, Hong Kong's medical system is basically provided by the government, the conditions of government hospitals are quite good, and the professional standards and medical equipment conditions of medical staff are good.

Fourth, Hong Kong has a relatively developed civil society, which will form a civilian force to rescue disasters.

The SARS epidemic has spread this time, and the SARS government has not responded enough. Hong Kong people have proposed self-rescue, and the people themselves advocate improving public health and personal hygiene, sharing knowledge on preventing SARS, etc., and have done a lot of things.

In terms of economic impact, it now seems that the expected growth rate of 3% at the beginning of the year is difficult to achieve.

Although some people believe that because of the poor economy, SARS is not handled well, and the distribution gap is large and unfair, there is a threat of unrest in Hong Kong. However, at this time, in Fan Wubing, who was visiting the SAR government with Fan Heng in a low-key manner, although there are many problems in Hong Kong, it is unlikely that unrest will occur because of the law-abiding tradition and a relatively developed civil society.

Of course, the biggest problem is probably the decline in government prestige.

Although he does not think that the SARS government's way of handling SARS is very poor, Hong Kong public opinion is very dissatisfied with the SARS government, and the mainland's prestige and image in the hearts of Hong Kong people have also suffered huge losses.

In the past few years, in the polls, the central government has become more popular than the SAR government. Especially when responding to the Southeast Asian financial crisis, the decisive actions of the central government have made Hong Kong people very confident in the central government. However, the poor handling of the SARS storm has affected the prestige of the central government.

Although the central government is still popular with the SAR government, the overall image of the mainland has deteriorated. Many Hong Kong people, especially young people, cannot understand that China, which has joined the World Trade Organization. Why is it that China, which has successfully bid for the Olympics, is still so unopen and opaque?

The patient at the source of the SARS epidemic in Taoda Garden was a 33-year-old man who lives in Shenzhen and often visited his brother in Taoda Garden.

The patient suffered from chronic renal failure and had been receiving treatment at Prince Wells Hospital. On March 14, he showed signs of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Within a week afterwards, he went to a unit owned by his brother in Building E, Taoda Garden, and used the toilet of the unit due to diarrhea.

After that, his younger brother, siblings and two nurses who were caring for him at Prince Wells Hospital were confirmed to have severe acute respiratory syndrome.

During the subsequent government investigation, it was found that each building in Taoda Garden had eight upright sewage pipes, collecting sewage from the same number of units on all floors. This sewage pipe is connected to the water toilet, washbasin, bathtub and the floor outlet of the bathroom. The above sanitary devices are each equipped with U-shaped water collectors to prevent the odor of sewage pipes and insects from entering the toilet.

According to the interview between government staff and residents of Taoda Garden, it was learned that complaints involving odor in the toilet were very common, and the U-shaped water collectors connected to some units may not have their due function. Since water toilets, washbasins and bathtubs are commonly used, the U-shaped water collectors connected to them should have water storage most of the time and should be able to play a role in air isolation.

Therefore, official experts speculate that this airflow may disperse the droplets with viruses stored in the sewage pipe into the bathroom, and the bathroom's air pumping fan may also discharge these droplets to the patio separating adjacent units, and finally the droplets with viruses enter other units through the window.

"Recent studies have shown that the feces of many patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome contain coronavirus, and this virus survives the feces for longer than those attached to the surface of the items. In the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in Taoda Garden, up to two-thirds of the patients have diarrhea, causing a large amount of virus to be discharged into the sewage channel of Building E." A Hong Kong medical expert explained to Fan Heng. "The source patients may first pass through the sewage discharge system of Building E, human contact and building facilities such as lifts and stairs, causing a group of residents in the building to be infected with the virus, and then infect other residents in the same seat. These infected residents may then spread the virus to residents inside and outside Building E through human contact and contaminated environmental facilities."

Fan Heng nodded repeatedly when he heard this, and also pointed out that Hong Kong is a very representative large and densely populated city. The experience of the Hong Kong SAR government in preventing and controlling the SARS epidemic is very direct reference significance for the prevention and control of SARS in various places.

The accompanying government officials also said that after the outbreak of the epidemic, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, in cooperation with the Taoda Garden owners' filing corporation and relevant residents, jointly carried out thorough cleaning and disinfection of all units and public places in Block E. The authorities paid special attention to the cleaning of the wash basins, bathtubs, wash basins, toilets and floor drains in the toilets and kitchens, and also cleaned the water storage tank.

At the same time, the government has printed a set of epidemic prevention work manuals, reminding citizens to properly maintain and repair the canal system and sanitary equipment. It has been distributed to all property management companies and owners' committees.

Then Fan Heng and his party visited several more sensitive areas and also entered the house to have close contact with local residents, and delivered some speeches to the media to encourage everyone.
Chapter completed!