Disease surveillance to be boosted

February 18, 2020

Hospital Authority Chief Manager (Quality & Standards) Dr Lau Ka-hin: This is the aim of our enhanced surveillance: it’s the early detection of the coronavirus infection patients. Because when the patients come to our out-patient clinics or the Accident & Emergency Departments, we can order the test for the patients who have fever and upper respiratory symptoms or mild chest infections. In the past, these patients will go home without the test, and then the patient will see other doctors again and again before the patient can be diagnosed to have the coronavirus pneumonia or coronavirus infection. The aim of this enhanced laboratory surveillance is to detect the patient earlier, to have earlier detection, earlier isolation and earlier treatment because we want the patient to have less chance to transmit the virus to the public. So we want to improve the surveillance because the patient, no matter we want it or not, is going around now so we can have earlier detection and we can have better isolation to prevent the virus to spread in the community.

(To watch the video with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Hospital Authority today said it will enhance surveillance of patients at general out-patient clinics and accident and emergency departments from February 19 to boost the early detection of novel coronavirus infections.

The authority’s Chief Manager (Quality & Standards) Dr Lau Ka-hin made the statement during a press briefing in the afternoon.

Dr Lau said: “When the patients come to our out-patient clinics or the Accident & Emergency Departments, we can order the test for the patients who have fever and upper respiratory symptoms or mild chest infections.”

He explained that such patients in the past would go home without a test and then see other doctors before being diagnosed with the disease.

“The aim of this enhanced laboratory surveillance is to detect the patient earlier, to have earlier detection, earlier isolation and earlier treatment because we want the patient to have less chance to transmit the virus to the public.

“We want to improve the surveillance because the patient, no matter we want it or not, is going around now so we can have earlier detection and we can have better isolation to prevent the virus to spread in the community.”