Yeoh Eng-kiong told a Hong Kong press conference that the majority of people infected with pneumonia are medical staff handling patients in hospitals, and there is no sign of the infection spreading to the wider community.

"We have a very effective surveillance system. If there is any sign of the infection breaking out in the community, we will immediately notify the public,'' he said.

Hospitals under the Hospital Authority have taken precautionary measures to minimize the number of infections.

The Department of Health will also provide treatment to people who have handled pneumonia patients and the family members of these medical staff, he said.

The health secretary said that, as of Friday afternoon, there were 43 hospitalized health-care workers, 29 of whom had pneumonia symptoms.

Later Friday, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Tung Chee-hwa, accompanied by Yeoh, visited the Prince of Wales Hospital, where 34 infected medical staff were staying, to find out about the latest situation.

Tung said the situation posed a rather big challenge and pledged full support in terms of personnel and financial resources.

"The government will pool its efforts to prevent the spread of respiratory infections,'' he said.

Yeoh Friday also attended a special meeting of the Legislative Council's Panel on Health to brief lawmakers about the latest developments.

He quoted an unnamed World Health Organization expert as saying: "It is probably a kind of viral infection spreading through droplets such as coughs and squeezes at close range. But it is not known if this is a kind of new virus or an existing virus that is behaving differently.''

Director of Health Margaret Chan told the Legislative Council panel that the incubation period of the infection was between two and seven days, based on what had been observed at the Prince of Wales Hospital.

The number of infections could increase over the next few days, but Chan said she hoped the number would decrease once all hospitals took precautionary measures.

She called on the public to maintain good personal hygiene, eat a balanced diet and wash their hands after coming into contact with any pneumonia sufferers.

(China Daily March 15, 2003)