THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 28TH JANUARY, 1888.
81
The following is the procedure when a notification of small-pox reaches this office from a Police Staton :--
(a.) If the patient expresses a desire to go into hospital, or if a certificate from a Medical practitioner is received to the effect that the patient is improperly lodged, an officer of the Board calls at the house and tenders his services for expediting the patient's removal. If the patient objects to go into hospital then the Magistrate is applied to for an order under section 5 of Ordinance 7 of 1883. The fumigation and limewashing of the room is then effected as speedily as possible generally within 24 hours and sometimes within an hour or two of the patient's removal. The Nuisance Inspectors who are entrusted with this duty invariably convey the patient in a regulation small-pox ambulance unless the person prefers to walk, and they have all received strict orders from me to assist the Police in preventing the removal of infected persons in licensed jinrickshas and chairs.
(b.) In cases where simply a notification of the disease reaches this Department, an Inspector calls at the house and enquires how many persons are affected, their age and nationality, and also the number of families residing in the tenement. The Inspectors are enjoined to supply whatever disinfectants may
be required, and to impress on those in charge of the sick the necessity of maintaining the strictest isolation.
A Notification in English, Portuguese, and Chinese requesting the public to inform the under- signed of the earliest day on which a room vacated by a patient can be fumigated and limewashed,
has also been issued.
Mention might here be made of the fact that the bedding and clothing used by patients in the Government Small-pox Hospital is effectively disinfected and washed within the precincts of the Hospital and that such bedding and clothing when unfit for further use is burnt.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
WM. EDWARD CROW, Acting Sanitary Inspector,
and Honorary Secretary
to Sanitary Board.
APPENDIX.
In 1887, no notification of Small-pox was made at the Sanitary Office before the 4th of February, and the rise, decline, and subsequent extension of the disease until it assumed an epidemic form in December, will be best seen on perusing the following table.
Month.
1887.
Cases reported at Sanitary Office.
Deaths Registered.
Rain-fall in inches.
9.00
January,
February,
7
1.54
March,
23
14
2.73
April,
40
32
5.64
May,
41
31
2.04
June,.
30
28
5.47
July,
12
11
12.07
August,..
4
5
10
13.19
September,
2
1
11.08
October,
November,
10
2
1.86
37
12
0.79
204
106
0.85
December,
Total,
405
247
66.26