Situation remedied: Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam appeared at the daily press briefing on SARS to say that Taiwan had agreed to let a Hong Kong tour group in quarantine return on a charter flight later this evening. Director of Health Margaret Chan says protective measures are being taken in the air and on the ground.

Taiwan authorities have agreed to allow members of a tour group who have been in isolation since Saturday to return to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the number of new confirmed cases remained in the mid-teens for the fourth day in a row. 

15 new cases, 49 more sent home

As at 1pm today, 15 new patients in public hospitals were confirmed to have atypical pneumonia. A total of  759 patients - more than 48% of all confirmed cases - have recovered and been discharged from public hospitals. Of them, 49 were sent home today.

The new confirmed cases include four healthcare workers (one from Tuen Mun Hospital, one from Princess Margaret Hospital, one from Caritas Medical Centre and one private doctor in Yau Ma Tei). The remaining 11 are other patients and contacts of patients with atypical pneumonia.

Most of the 663 patients currently in hospital are responding positively to the new treatment protocol. Of them, 93, about 14%, are receiving treatment in intensive-care units.

Another 92 patients are recovering in convalescence, in preparation for discharge.

Twelve patients - nine of whom had a history of chronic disease - died in the last day.

Three people - a man and woman, both aged 81, and a woman aged 59 - died in Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital. All had chronic illnesses.

A 70-year-old man with underlying illness died at Kwong Wah Hospital. An 86-year-old man with a history of disease died in Princess Margaret Hospital. Two patients, a 73-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman, died in Prince of Wales Hospital; both had chronic illnesses. A 48-year-old man died in Queen Mary Hospital. Two women with underlying diseases, aged 91 and 47, died in Tai Po Hospital. Two men, aged 40 and 65, died in United Christian Hospital.

This brought to 150  the total number of deaths relating to atypical pneumonia. Three of the deceased came from Amoy Gardens, including one from Block E.

Taiwan authorities allow tour group members to leave

Taiwan authorities have agreed to allow members of a tour group who have been in isolation since Saturday to return to Hong Kong, Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam said. 

A special charter Dragonair flight KA8481, will leave Hong Kong for Taipei tonight.

Acting Chief Executive Donald Tsang said this a special arrangement during a special time.

The move is the best choice after careful consideration of the situation and request of the tour members, he said.

The group was put under confinement orders after a six-year-old girl travelling with them developed a fever. Taiwan authorities classified her as a SARS suspect.

Stringent measures in place onboard, on the ground

Director of Health Dr Margaret Chan said she sought the approval from other group members, "and the entire tour group is in support of bringing the girl back."

According to the girl's family, the little girl is active. "She can sleep well, play well, eat well. They have strongly asked that they come back together with the tour group," Dr Chan said.

Taiwan's health officials confirm that the girl's chest X-rays are normal, a polymerase chain reaction test - which can detect the presence of a virus - was negative, and the girl hasn't had fever for two days.

Department of Health medical officers onboard the flight will take over the tour group from the Taiwan authorities.

They will take temperature checks of everyone before boarding. Onboard, they will wear protective clothing and face masks, and they will make appropriate seating arrangements. The plane seats 100.

Upon their return to Hong Kong International Airport, special arrangements will whisk them through Customs away from other arriving passengers. The Department of Health will also give them a thorough check up.

They will be put under home confinement for a period of 10 days starting from April 26 - the day the Taiwanese authorities put them under isolation orders.

"We'll have medical staff on the plane to explain all the details. When they come back we will make all the necessary arrangements," Dr Chan said.

Girl likely to be put under observation

Dr Chan stressed that she never questioned the Taiwanese doctors' judgement. "The most important thing is a clinical diagnosis," she said. "I haven't met the child, so that's why we have to respect the judgement made by clinical doctors."

Sometimes, the symptoms are not so obvious, she added.

When the girl arrives in Hong Kong, Department of Health officials will examine her and assess her condition. Dr Chan said it is likely that she will be put under observation.

"We're starting to see the results of prevention work. It's better to do more rather than less," she said. "I don't want to do anything at this stage so that we let down our guard."

Girl's family expresses its gratitude

The girl's family members asked Dr Chan to relay their thanks to Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa for the assistance he has provided. "They've also asked me to thank the friends in the media in Hong Kong for voicing the concerns of the family," she said.

Mr Lam said that the Chung Hwa Travel Agency was a good communications channel.

"Our approach has always been pragmatic, effective and smooth," he said, noting that they were able to arrange for the charter flight within a day, and within a couple of hours, "literally" we were able to arrange for the group to come back to Hong Kong.

Private doctor contracts atypical pneumonia

A private doctor in practice in Yau Ma Tei was among the newly-confirmed cases. Dr Chan said he came down with symptoms on April 22 and was hospitalised two days later.

His family members have arranged for home confinement.

"With his assistance and consent we went to his office and searched all his medical records and we did contact tracing," Dr Chan said. None of his clinical nurses nor the 70-odd patients contacted so far have any symptoms.