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nightsoil collected from the Western District of Hong Kong still showed positive evidence of cholera vibrios, clean-up operations were carried out among the popular cooked food stalls in Heung Hing Lane on 19th and 20th July.
(g) Several talks were given by senior staff over the English and Chinese programmes of Radio Hong Kong and Commercial Radio, and interviews over both television stations were also given. Numerous Press enquiries were dealt with. The Department's two broadcasting vans put out publicity on anti-cholera precautions as part of its regular work on health education. Film shows on anti-cholera measures were presented every other night in Resettlement Estates. Posters and handbills were distributed to restaurants and public places.
(h) Disinfection teams were sent to all infected premises, where District Health Inspectors under the supervision of Health Officers swabbed the premises for detection of cholera vibrios and tracing of contacts.
(i) The Cleansing Division cleaned up the buildings and surrounding area of the Chatham Road Quarantine Centre, and also provided services for the regular removal of refuse from the camp. Pest Control gangs carried out mosquito control measures in the vicinity. Some swings and roundabouts were supplied to the camp by the Recreation and Amenities Division.
(j) District Health Inspectors advised boat people in the Yau Ma Tei typhoon shelter on the most hygienic way of drawing water from the one standpipe there. This meant dissuading people from using a hose-pipe often left trailing in the polluted water of the harbour. At the instigation of the City District Officer, arrangements have been made for the installation of another 5 standpipes there.
As regards the second part of your question, the answer is "yes". The public generally co-operated well and supported the Department's anti-cholera measures, including the seizing of prohibited and restricted foods. There were no notable exceptions to this spirit of goodwill.
I should like to take this opportunity of paying tribute to the public's co-operation and to the painstaking devotion to duty of Urban Services Department's staff in this work. I think the Council is entitled to feel some satisfaction that, when a real test of its work arose, it came through with flying colours in vindication of its never-ending task of making Hong Kong a healthier place to live in. The fact that we came through the recent cholera outbreak so swiftly and efficiently is something that ought to be publicly recognized to the Council's credit.
MR. FORSGATE : Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and the members of your Department for a most excellent reply. The fact that my question is now out of date speaks volumes for the effective efforts your Department has made, and the other authorities concerned, and I would like on behalf of the Council to echo the words so ably expressed in your reply. There is one little bit of information which does puzzle me. I would like to ask our medical expert: the fact that there is still in nightsoil the presence of cholera vibrio, does that mean that an outbreak is liable to recur in the future without warning?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-It seems that cholera vibrio present in nightsoil would indicate that there must be somebody excreting the vibrio.
MR. FORSGATE:-And yet, Mr. Chairman, we are still able to declare ourselves no longer cholera-infected in spite of this presence. Is that correct?
CHAIRMAN: --I think I am right in saying that cholera vibrios have been present in nightsoil samples for some months now, long before the actual outbreak of cholera. This means there are carriers of cholera, but people don't necessarily catch the disease although they are in fact carriers. I would like that confirmed by Dr. CHEUNG.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-Yes. As a matter of fact, in our last outbreak, from 6 clinical cases we traced 22 more asymptomatic carriers.
(12) MR. H. M. G. FORSGATE asked the following question:
What action has been taken recently to remove unauthorized structures in Resettlement Estates in the urban area?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:-
Sir, operations began in April to deal with two major types of unauthorized structures in the resettlement estates. These were illegal extensions to restaurants and cafes,
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