WHO expert Dr. Kouichi Morita today (14 April) concluded his four-day consultation visit in Macao in a press conference, recognizing the preventive measures taken by the Macao SAR Government against SARS as quite effective.

Dr. Morita said that he had observed the systems adopted by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Health Centers and hospital, and found the preventive measures “totally in line with the WHO guidelines”.

He also confirmed that after thorough discussion with local officials and experts at the WHO regional office, it was agreed that the four patients who were put under isolation care earlier were all “discarded cases”, and that “there is no evidence of an SARS case in Macao” as of 14 April.

Dr. Morita point out that it is still too early to reach a final conclusion on why there is no SAR case in Macao at this stage. He suggested that early adoption of preventive actions right after SARS case were recognized in neighboring regions might have help preventing SARS in Macao.

He also indicated that at least 10 wards in each of the two hospitals were prepared for isolation care, with standard that meets the WHO recommendation while medical staffs were given sufficient supply and proper training in handling suspected SARS patients.

He praised that the Macao Government had been “very transparent and very open” in providing him with necessary data and information for his assessment on Macao’s “preparedness for SARS”.

Dr. Morita suggested that the surveillance inplaced in the airport, ports, borders and hospital should be maintained and the isolation mechanism in hospitals in the case of suspected or confirmed SARS cases could still be improved.

Dr. Morita had visited the two hospitals, Center for Disease Prevention and Control, the isolation care units and other health facilities during his visit in Macao. He will leave Macao tomorrow for Manila.