SARS risk over in Hong Kong

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed Hong Kong from its list of areas with recent local transmission of SARS.

Twenty days -- twice the maximum incubation period for the disease -- have passed since the last case was isolated in Hong Kong. This means the chain of human-to-human transmission has been broken, thus eliminating the risk of infection for both local residents and travellers.

The WHO applauded the Hong Kong government's handling of the outbreak, and recognized its pioneering efforts in treating the disease and implementing control measures.

"This success means that the whole world can now feel safer from the SARS threat," said Dr David Heymann, Executive Director of Communicable Diseases at WHO.

For more information, please refer to the WHO announcement: http://www.who.int/csr/don/2003_06_23/en/

Trade and investment have picked up significantly in the past few weeks, since the WHO lifted its travel advisory for Hong Kong.