An unsettled climate is expected this coming week, adding further uncertainties to Hong Kong's battle towards a spreading dengue fever outbreak. This enabled the acting food and health minister to decide that any possible effort must be exerted after convening an interdepartmental meeting on Monday.
According to South China Morning Post, the Department of Health was waiting anxiously for the result of a medical test performed on a person hailing from Wong Tai Sin. He was believed to have been infected with dengue fever, a statement that was released by a government source.
If the infection proved to be true, the person would be deemed the 17th victim following the first infections that were reported last Tuesday.
The Observatory, on the other hand, is already expecting showers and/or thunderstorms to arrive in nine straight days. All health authorities have issued warnings that mosquitoes might thrive in constantly wet conditions.
Residents of Cheung Chau, where there have been two victims of dengue fever, said that the outlying island had been recently plagued by mosquitoes. It happened in the past week due to the constant rain, Hong Kong Free Press reports.
"It has been raining a lot in the past week. There are many bushes in Cheung Chau and so the mosquitoes are everywhere," said Yung Chi-ming, the chairman of the Cheung Chau Rural Committee. "Residents are still going out, but I'd suggest everyone should avoid going up the hills where there could be many more mosquitoes," he added.
The chairman of the island's Sun Hing Street Community Association, Lam Kit-sing, criticized the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department for its inability to send staff more frequently. This move would have sprayed vulnerable neighborhoods, enabling the latter to be shielded from any dengue outbreak.
"Government staff will spray public areas, but the problem is there are some vacant private sites in Cheung Chau that have been plagued by mosquitoes," Lam said. "The stagnant water in those properties, especially after rain, draws mosquitoes. The officers need to spray there as well."
