<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>HK launches massive clean-up drive
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>After Sars, city not taking chances with streets, buildings to be scrubbed down </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Caryn Yeo, For The Sraits Times
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WIPEDOWN IN HONG KONG: Cleaners wiping escalator handrails yesterday as part of a citywide cleaning operation in Hong Kong. A similar campaign was launched during the Sars outbreak in 2003. -- PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->HONG KONG: Swine flu may not have reached the shores of Hong Kong, but the city, still haunted by memories of past epidemics, has turned into the City of Clean.
From the relaunch of a 'Clean Hong Kong' campaign, to the reappearance of the face masks that characterised the 2003 Sars epidemic, the city is clearly leaving nothing to chance.
Announcing the start of the HK$10 million (S$1.9 million) clean-up campaign yesterday, Health Secretary York Chow said streets, buildings and public transportation are to be scrubbed clean, while public toilets will be sanitised every two hours.
The money will also be used to increase the number of hand- washing dispensers and for leaflets on improving personal hygiene, he added.
Teams of environmental hygiene officers fanned out across the city yesterday, ready to hand out fines for those caught littering or spitting. Penalties have been raised from HK$600 to HK$1,500.
A similar citywide operation was launched during the Sars outbreak six years ago. The disease eventually killed 299 people in the city of seven million people.
Hong Kong was also ground zero for a bird flu outbreak in 1997, which nearly destroyed the city's poultry industry. The last global flu pandemic in 1968, which killed up to one million people, was named the Hong Kong flu.
Even before the launch of 'Clean Hong Kong', commercial and residential buildings across the city have dusted off a host of preventive measures to set the public at ease. Clear plastic sheets have been taped over lift buttons and many buildings have hand sanitisers on display.
The Cityview Hotel in Kowloon has not only stepped up the cleaning and disinfection of its lobby and lifts, it is also handing out herbal tea to staff to help ward off flu.
The MTR Corporation, which operates Hong Kong's subway system and six city shopping centres, said it had set aside HK$1 million for 'anti-flu' measures.
Pharmacies are reporting a brisk trade of face masks. Wholesale mask prices have reportedly increased by about 10 per cent.
Wet market pork sellers saw business slide as customers shied away. Stall owners told The Straits Times that pork prices have slipped by at least 5 per cent.
Housewife Patricia Cheung, who was buying pork at a wet market, was nonchalant when asked if she was afraid that swine flu might spread to Hong Kong.
'There's no need to be over-cautious, I just make sure that the food is properly cooked. Hong Kong people have already been through Sars and bird flu.'
For now at least, Hong Kongers can breathe a sigh of relief. The health authorities said yesterday that two women admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms had tested negative for swine flu. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>After Sars, city not taking chances with streets, buildings to be scrubbed down </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Caryn Yeo, For The Sraits Times
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
WIPEDOWN IN HONG KONG: Cleaners wiping escalator handrails yesterday as part of a citywide cleaning operation in Hong Kong. A similar campaign was launched during the Sars outbreak in 2003. -- PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->HONG KONG: Swine flu may not have reached the shores of Hong Kong, but the city, still haunted by memories of past epidemics, has turned into the City of Clean.
From the relaunch of a 'Clean Hong Kong' campaign, to the reappearance of the face masks that characterised the 2003 Sars epidemic, the city is clearly leaving nothing to chance.
Announcing the start of the HK$10 million (S$1.9 million) clean-up campaign yesterday, Health Secretary York Chow said streets, buildings and public transportation are to be scrubbed clean, while public toilets will be sanitised every two hours.
The money will also be used to increase the number of hand- washing dispensers and for leaflets on improving personal hygiene, he added.
Teams of environmental hygiene officers fanned out across the city yesterday, ready to hand out fines for those caught littering or spitting. Penalties have been raised from HK$600 to HK$1,500.
A similar citywide operation was launched during the Sars outbreak six years ago. The disease eventually killed 299 people in the city of seven million people.
Hong Kong was also ground zero for a bird flu outbreak in 1997, which nearly destroyed the city's poultry industry. The last global flu pandemic in 1968, which killed up to one million people, was named the Hong Kong flu.
Even before the launch of 'Clean Hong Kong', commercial and residential buildings across the city have dusted off a host of preventive measures to set the public at ease. Clear plastic sheets have been taped over lift buttons and many buildings have hand sanitisers on display.
The Cityview Hotel in Kowloon has not only stepped up the cleaning and disinfection of its lobby and lifts, it is also handing out herbal tea to staff to help ward off flu.
The MTR Corporation, which operates Hong Kong's subway system and six city shopping centres, said it had set aside HK$1 million for 'anti-flu' measures.
Pharmacies are reporting a brisk trade of face masks. Wholesale mask prices have reportedly increased by about 10 per cent.
Wet market pork sellers saw business slide as customers shied away. Stall owners told The Straits Times that pork prices have slipped by at least 5 per cent.
Housewife Patricia Cheung, who was buying pork at a wet market, was nonchalant when asked if she was afraid that swine flu might spread to Hong Kong.
'There's no need to be over-cautious, I just make sure that the food is properly cooked. Hong Kong people have already been through Sars and bird flu.'
For now at least, Hong Kongers can breathe a sigh of relief. The health authorities said yesterday that two women admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms had tested negative for swine flu. [email protected]
