HK govt discusses ways to handle Ebola cases

The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) held a cross-departmental meeting Wednesday to discuss ways to handle possible Ebola cases in Hong Kong.

The Hospital Authority says it has contacted the U.S. manufacturer of an experimental drug to treat the disease. However, it said it has yet to decide whether it would use the drug or not.

The Health Secretary, Dr. Ko Wing-man, says fully sealed body protection suits aren't necessary for front-line staff handling suspected Ebola cases here.

He said medical experts agreed at a meeting on Tuesday that such suits posed a greater risk of infection when being taken off. He said the experts agreed that the eyes, nose and mouth must be covered, with what he called adequate gear to offer splash or spray protection.

There has been criticism against hospital workers who handled a suspected case of Ebola on Sunday without wearing special gear or disinfecting the site.

More than 1,000 people have died from the outbreak in West Africa, and there are fears it may spread to other countries and continents.

The mainland has stepped up monitoring at immigration points to guard against importing the virus. Eight Chinese medical workers who treated patients with Ebola have been placed in quarantine in Sierra Leone, but they showed no symptoms so far.