The discharge of the only SARS patient has ended the first phase of SARS control work in Macao, said Chui Sai On, commander of Macao's SARS task force, Sunday night.

Chui said that the Macao Special Administrative Region has achieved the phase-one objective of the control of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), during which it issued guidelines on SARS prevention, implemented customs quarantine and set up the task force to coordinate the cross-sectional SARS control work.

The task force responsible for the round-the-clock command of SARS prevention and control was set up in March, and took office soon after the first SARS case was confirmed on May 10. Before its functioning, Macao's sufficient preparations had enabled it to remain unaffected for nearly half a year after the epidemic broke out in its surrounding regions of Guangdong and Hong Kong.

"As the SARS control work entered the second phase, the government will appropriate funds to further improve the medical facilities for SARS treatment and quarantine camps," said Chui.

He disclosed that the government will set aside 16 million patacas (US$1.9 million) to build a new complex dedicated to the treatment of the communicable disease in the Government Hospital of Macao, a designated SARS hospital, which has conducted successful treatment of the first SARS patient.

Under the government's plan, the fifth floor of the hospital has been built into permanent isolation wards for SARS treatment.

Chui said that the task force will continue its work for another month to oversee the cross-sectional SARS control.

He said that as a tourist city, Macao will sustain quarantine checks at its entry checkpoints to ensure the health of its own residents and tourists. It will also continue to send medical staff to China's mainland, Hong Kong and Singapore to learn the latest ways in SARS treatment.

Experts with the World Health Organization (WHO) will inspect Macao's work to prevent the infection of SARS virus in labs in June, Chui added. Two WHO experts have visited Macao after the disease broke out in its neighboring regions, contributing their expertise on the SARS prevention and control.