(Practising for a pandemic: Hong Kong has mounted its first large-scale flu preparedness drill, moving mock patients, with officials reporting no disruption to emergency services at the two participating hospitals. The eight-hour drill involved 500 personnel, with 80 tour group members attending Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth hospitals after two "fell ill" with bird flu, causing a "serious" alert. Photo: K.Y. Cheng from scmp.com)

By LIANG TAO, CRI Correspondent
 
More than 500 people participated in a drill to check Hong Kong's preparedness for any avian influenza outbreak Wednesday.

The Centre for Health Protection exercise saw Health, Welfare & Food Bureau, Hospital Authority and Fire Services Department staff take part, along with 30-plus local experts, and those from the Mainland and Macau, acting as observers.

Director of Health Dr Lam Ping-yan said it focused on frontline operations, such as the handling and transfer of public hospital patients and contact tracing by the centre.

Dr Lam said the drill enables them to review the procedural effectiveness in the contingency plan and co-ordination among the participating departments and organizations.

He added that although there has been no human case of avian flu since 2004, Hong Kong must remain vigilant and be well prepared for a possible outbreak.

The drill involved the mock infection of two Southeast Asian tourists who were then sent to Princess Margaret Hospital.

A high-level meeting was then convened to form emergency response measures, followed by an epidemiological investigation to trace the patients' contacts.