Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong stressed that the decision to use the isolation order for residents of Block E at Amoy Gardens was an exceptional move, aimed at tackling a difficult crisis.

"This is certainly a very unusual thing that we've done. We've never done it before and I hope we never do it again," he said in a press conference this morning.

Dr Yeoh expressed his gratitude to the 241 residents who are now in isolation and will not be able to leave the block - without a letter of authorisation from the Department of Health - until midnight, April 9.

"They were really co-operative and I'm most grateful to them," he said. "We're imposing restrictions on their personal freedoms."

Starting at 6.30 this morning, about 50 police officers and 50 Home Affairs Department workers went door-to-door, to each of the 264 units on Block E's 33 floors. They found 241 residents in 108 units and explained the situation to them.

Some residents of the other 156 flats had fled in the days before as the number of people from the block suspected of  having atypical pneumonia climbed higher.

The Department of Health will make every effort to find residents who left their Amoy Gardens' homes.

"We will urge them to contact the Department of Health. They should be examined. We have effective treatment. If they are treated as soon as possible, there is a good chance that they will recover," Dr Yeoh stressed.

The hotline for these residents to call is 187 2222.

They will not be asked to return to Block E as the building has essentially been sealed off.

Source traced to Prince of Wales Hospital

Up to this morning, 213 Amoy Garden residents had been hospitalised, showing signs of atypical pneumona. Of them, 107 lived in Block E.

A Block E resident had had four recent visits from a person who had caught the virus at the Prince of Wales Hospital, in Ward 8A, Dr Yeoh said. It is believed that during one of the visits to Amoy Gardens, "there was some breakdown in the system and he infected residents in the whole block. We have not determined the actual mechanism of infection although we have done a lot of investigations".

He added: "There is a lot of evidence based on the public-health investigations that this is the source of infection. And the other residents in other blocks have been affected as a spillover from this infected block. So this infected block has to be dealt with in a very, very exceptional way."

Rapid change in virus transmission

The transmission rate had changed so rapidly, Dr Yeoh noted, that they cannot rule out the possibility that this is an airborne virus. In Block E, about 60 to 70% of the cases came from units 7 and 8, so it may have spread vertically, he said.

Investigators are checking the infrastructure, the utilities, the water supply, every possible source of the transmission.

Assistance for Block E residents, people who may be affected

The residents who have been isolated inside the block will be served three free meals a day. Household supplies such as tissues and bleach will also be delivered to them.

Department of Health staff are working with them to show them how to properly clean and disinfect their households. Building management is also stepping up disinfecting measures of all of Amoy Gardens.

A health station has been set up in the building foyer, to provide health checks for residents. Social workers and clinical experts are on hand to help residents cope with the stress.

Employers are urged to pay sick leave compensation to people affected by the isolation order, and those affected by the Quarantine & Prevention of Disease Ordinance that went into affect today.

The Social Welfare Department now offers emergency financial assistance for those who are required to report into the four Department of Health offices for a daily check up for 10 days and those affected by the isolation order for residents of Block E at Amoy Garden.

The cash allowance for the former will be $150 per day ($90 for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients), and $60 for the latter.

Director of Social Welfare Carrie Lam explained that only those with no fixed income and who are not employed full-time are eligible as the scheme aims to provide emergency relief for those in need.

Application forms can be obtained from the four Department of Health offices and the help desk at the foyer of Block E at Amoy Gardens.

Two hotlines are available for Amoy Gardens residents: 9408 3253 and 9617 1785.

"The isolation order has legal backing, but the whole intention is to get the residents to be cooperative," Dr Yeoh said.

"It's in the interests of both the residents and the public. We need the residents' understanding... After the incubation period, that place [Block E] should be as safe as any place in the world."

Former residents urged to contact health officials

Speaking on today's operation, Secretary for Home Affairs Dr Patrick Ho said the Government will improve its arrangement to cater for residents' needs.

He also urged residents who have moved out from the block to contact officials of Department of Health. Home Affairs Department staff will also brief the affected residents on the latest situation.