Thank you: Several organisations have expressed their gratitude to healthcare staff caring for pneumonia patients in newspaper advertisements.

Several organisations have placed newspaper advertisements thanking healthcare workers for their work in containing the atypical pneumonia outbreak.

The ads also wish pneumonia patients a speedy recovery.

The ads were placed by numerous bodies in today's papers, including a pharmaceutical firm, a gauze mask producer and supplier, religious bodies and some Legislative Council members.

LegCo members, politicians and medical professionals praised the "commendable spirit" of health workers and encouraged them to fight for the community's welfare.

Three Catholic bodies will hold a special mass for pneumonia patients and all those who take care of them. 

Hospital Authority Director of Professional Services & Public Affairs Dr Ko Wing-man thanked people who have offered help.

Chief Secretary Donald Tsang also praised the efforts of  healthcare personnel and medical experts earlier this week.

As at 3pm today, there were 203 people suspected of contracting severe acute respiratory disease, 197 of them have signs of pneumonia.

Among those admitted to the hospitals, 93 are healthcare workers. Of them 89 confirmed to be infected.