Dear Colleagues,

 Combating Atypical Pneumonia - United We Can

The Easter which has just past marked an occasion in which all sectors of the community joined hands in unison to combat the Atypical Pneumonia (AP) disease.  I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to those colleagues and their families who took time out during the holidays to do voluntary cleansing and community work in support of the Operation UNITE and the territory-wide Cleansing Day.  Special thanks should go to the colleagues of the Home Affairs Department for organising the Cleansing Day.

During the exercise, our civil service volunteers' teams from various bureaux and departments, together with those from civil service staff associations, mobilised nearly one thousand colleagues to undertake voluntary services, which included cleaning up hygiene black spots and elderly homes as well as distributing health information and disinfection kits to the general public.  They were joined by other colleagues and their families who took part in these activities on an individual basis.

In the past few weeks, I have visited 16 departmental offices which have officers infected with the AP disease.  I was delighted to see that colleagues there remained diligent at work.  It is reassuring to note that there has been no case of secondary infection of any civil servants in the workplace.  Still, there is no room for complacency; and cleansing and disinfection work has been stepped up in all government offices.

Finally, I am sure you have read the package of relief measures announced by the Government recently to provide assistance to various sectors of our community affected by the AP disease.  I am also sure that our civil service will continue to play a constructive part during this difficult period.  So stay positive and healthy!

Yours sincerely,

(Joseph W P Wong)
Secretary for the Civil Service