ENG-2003 — Page 19

CALENDAR OF EVENTS IN 2003

April

2

9

11

12

17

223

29

May

5

16

The World Health Organisation (WHO) issues a travel advisory concerning non-essential travel to Hong Kong; the tourism industry and related sectors are increasingly hard hit by the SARS outbreak.

The Government introduces the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2003 into the Legislative Council to amend the Betting Duty Ordinance and give effect to the authorisation and regulation of football betting in Hong Kong; the council passes the bill on July 10.

The Government announces a proposal to construct a new two-lane boundary bridge beside the existing Lok Ma Chau boundary bridge to meet the growth in cross-boundary traffic between Lok Ma Chau and Huanggang.

The Hong Kong Government reaches a consensus with the Guangdong Government on SARS-related matters regarding the exchange of information, medical cooperation, notification mechanism and boundary quarantine arrangements. An expert group is established to take forward the agreement.

The Chief Executive meets President Hu Jintao in Shenzhen, and reports on what Hong Kong is doing to combat SARS.

With the toll rising to some 1 300 infections and 65 deaths, the Prevention of the Spread of Infectious Disease (Amendment) Regulation 2003 is gazetted to empower authorised persons to take the body temperature of persons arriving or leaving Hong Kong, and to prohibit persons who have been exposed to the risk of SARS from leaving Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the Government announces the investigation findings of the Amoy Gardens outbreak.

The Government proposes a $11.8 billion package of relief measures to help the community tide over the difficulties caused by the SARS outbreak.

The Chief Executive attends the Special ASEAN-China Leaders' Meeting on SARS held in Bangkok, during which he reports to Premier Wen Jiabao on the situation in Hong Kong.

Heavy rain in the morning causes numerous cases of flooding and landslips throughout Hong Kong; a police officer is drowned while trying to rescue villagers in Ta Kwu Ling and schools are suspended during the day.

The Chief Executive appoints the Chief Secretary for Administration the chairman of a special task force named Team Clean which is tasked with improving environmental hygiene and cleanliness in Hong Kong.

The WHO releases findings on the SARS outbreak at Amoy Gardens, which corroborates the Government's findings: a unique sequence of environmental and health events that happened simultaneously contributed to the outbreak there.