Hong Kong reported its second consecutive day with no new cases, amid growing debate on when the region could expect to be removed from the WHO's Sars-affected areas list. Hong Kong's health minister said he would be pushing hard to demonstrate that the control measures had fully succeeded in controlling Sars.

The travel advisory recommending against non-essential travel to Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong was lifted three weeks ago.

Mainland screening measures controlling Sars quickly

Developments on the mainland, where a team of WHO experts had been meeting, were also positive. WHO's chief of communicable diseases, Dr David Heymann, praised the openness with which the WHO team was welcomed by the Ministry of Health, and described the measures now in place to control and prevent SARS as "excellent". He cited the high level of commitment and determination at all levels of the health system as largely responsible for the dramatic recent decline in the number of cases seen throughout the Chinese mainland.

Indications of the effectiveness of control measures include the very short time now occurring between the onset of symptoms and the detection and isolation of cases, and the speed and efficiency of contact tracing.

Other effective measures include systems for both passive and active surveillance, such as fever checks at train and bus stations and airports, a nationwide mass media campaign to inform and educate the public, and a very large number of fever clinics to assess those who suspect they may have symptoms.

"We've seen that there has been a massive effort to mobilize the population both in urban and rural areas across the country, encouraging people to monitor themselves for fever and to ensure that SARS cases are quickly identified, isolated and treated," said Dr Heymann.

Screening checks continue between Hong Kong and the mainland

Despite the stabilisation of Sars on the mainland and the lifting of the advisory in the neighbouring Gaungdong region, the Hong Kong Government has stated that it remains committed to stringent health checks at its land and sea boundaries with the mainland.

Meanwhile, more than 120 clinicians and medical experts from the United States, Britain, Canada, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, France, Beijing, Guangdong and Hong Kong are taking part in a two-day SARS Clinical Management Workshop in Hong Kong, the first event of its kind, co-organised by the Health, Welfare & Food Bureau and the World Health Organisation.