‘Spread of SARS among OFWs under control’

The spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong, especially among overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is now under control, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) reported yesterday.

OWWA chief Virgilio Angelo said no other incidence of SARS among Filipinos was recorded in the past week in Hong Kong and in other countries.

"Cases of SARS in Hong Kong appear to be already on the downtrend and we have not received reports of new infection among Filipinos there," Angelo said in an interview.

A total of 25 SARS cases among OFWs in Hong Kong and Singapore were recorded since the outbreak in February.

Angelo said that all have fully recovered and most have reported for work again. So far, only one SARS victim remained confined in a Hong Kong hospital — a 59-year-old Filipina married to a Chinese national.

The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong is, however, continuously advising OFWs there to take the necessary precautions.

Hong Kong is among the hardest-hit areas of the SARS epidemic, which has killed 161 people and infected at least 3,000 worldwide.

Downplaying news reports that there was a mass infection of Filipinos in Toronto, Canada with the SARS virus, Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said yesterday that there must have been errors in the diagnosis.

The health chief told The STAR that the Philippine consulate in Toronto has assured him that there was no mass SARS infection within any Filipino community.