*******************
Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, after attending a radio programme today (January 23):
Reporter: Do you have any advice for people in this cold weather? Can the hospitals handle an increase in the number of patients?
Secretary for Food and Health: Indeed, the weather is turning to extreme in these few days. It will be even more colder in the following days. From our experience, the instance of many illnesses, including respiratory, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal illnesses, may also increase during this extreme weather. Therefore, even before the arrival of the peak of seasonal influenza, the public hospitals are already quite saturated. The Hospital Authority has activated its contingency measures in terms of mobilising manpower as well as maximising the capacity of the public hospital system. I hope to appeal to the people of Hong Kong to pay special attention to the importance of keeping oneself warm, particularly for children, elderly and those who are chronically ill.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Saturday, January 23, 2016
Issued at HKT 12:08
NNNN
