Two more Pinays with SARS in HK

Two more Filipino workers in Hong Kong were reported to have been afflicted with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), bringing to 27 the total cases of the mysterious illness among Filipinos abroad.

Labor Undersecretary Manuel Imson said the workers — a nurse and a domestic helper — were admitted to a hospital in Hong Kong last Friday due to possible SARS infection. Both are in stable condition.

This came only a few days after the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) reported that SARS among Filipino workers in Hong Kong appeared to be under control since no SARS infection was reported last week.

With these two additional cases, Imson said three Filipinos are now confined in different hospitals in the administrative region. The third is a 56-year-old Filipina married to a Chinese, who has been reported to be in critical condition for weeks now.

Hong Kong’s chief executive Tung Chee-hwa told reporters he is growing more confident about beating the disease as efforts to contain the spread of SARS by quarantining households of victims and tracking down potential contacts seem to be paying off.

Hong Kong is among the hardest hit areas with 88 dead and at least 1,380 people infected.

Tung said that so far, 150 suspected SARS cases have been identified through Hong Kong’s stepped-up measures to find people exposed to the disease.

"I think we are making good progress," Tung said.

As this developed, a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from Hong Kong to Sydney reportedly turned back on the runway after a woman passenger who transited in Hong Kong complained of a headache and fever.

Medical authorities reportedly came on board to check the passenger and the flight departed only two hours later when she was cleared of health problems, The South China Morning Post reported.

Tung declined to comment on the case and Cathay did not immediately return reporters’ phone calls.

Air travelers infected in Hong Kong in late February carried the virus to three other countries that have now suffered SARS fatalities - Canada, Vietnam and Singapore.

Philippine authorities have been tightly screening returning OFWs from these SARS-affected countries. Recently, however, even returning workers from Malaysia were also placed under close watch as the possibility of SARS infection may also be high.

OWWA deputy administrator Delmer Cruz said that Malaysia is very near Singapore, where a total of nine OFWs were afflicted with SARS. Vitamin C and surgical masks were distributed to workers arriving from Malaysia.