A total of 754 applications have been made to the Trustee of the Trust Fund for SARS, the Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food says, adding that 52% of the cases have been processed.

Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong told legislators today the Government will continue to work closely with the trust fund committee to ensure applications are processed as quickly as possible.

Among the 754 applications, 302 cases come from families with deceased SARS patients and 452 cases from recovered and suspected SARS patients treated with steroids.

357 applications have been approved

Dr Yeoh said 357 applications, among which 217 were made in respect of the deceased and 140 the recovered, have been approved.

Special ex-gratia relief payments for successful applications in respect of the deceased range from $100,000 to $500,000 for each eligible family member or family, where appropriate.

For eligible recovered SARS patients or suspected SARS patients treated with steroids, special ex-gratia financial assistance per patient is determined on a need basis and subject to a cap of $500,000.

So far, the highest total amount of payment made to a whole family in respect of the deceased is $1.7 million, while the lowest amount is $100,000.

Procedures streamlined to speed up processing

Dr Yeoh said the trust fund committee has met eight times since its establishment on November 8, to consider the applications received. To expedite the process, straight-forward applications are dealt with by circulation.

The time taken to process the cases varies, depending on the complexity of the applications, and whether information provided by the applicants is adequate. 

"From experience, the shortest time required was two weeks from application to approval. On average, it takes about eight to 10 weeks, again depending on the circumstances of individual cases concerned," he said.

To expedite processing of applications from this group, the committee has already streamlined the process to keep the procedures to a minimum.

Payments for successful cases for recovered SARS patients and suspected SARS patients treated with steroids will generally begin to count from the date of application, rather than date of approval.