The government has urged Hong Kong's 6.8 million residents to take part in the cleanup campaign in a bid to halt the spread of the killer Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus that has now claimed 81 victims.
Twelve more deaths were announced Saturday in the former British colony which is now officially the worst affected region in the world.
Ahead of the two-day weekend cleanup which will see the disinfection of housing estates, parks and commercial premises as well as some of the city's filthy streets, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa acknowledged the SARS outbreak had been disastrous.
SARS has inflicted damage on the city's economy and the health and mental well-being of residents, Tung said Friday.
"No matter which way you look at it, it is a disaster," said Tung. Legislators and critics have accused the government of doing too little to prevent the spread of SARS and being too late to see its devastating economic impact.
Hong Kong has been devastated by the SARS epidemic since the World Health Organisation issued an unprecedented travel advisory on April 2 against travel to Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong province in southern China.
Streets are notably less congested while many of the fear-struck residents who do venture out wear surgical masks. The key tourism industry has been battered with about 40 percent of all flights cancelled.
Meanwhile, authorities have finally added a businessman, who lives in the luxurious Peak area, to the official list of people suffering from SARS, a report said Saturday.
The South China Morning Post said high-profile businessman, Chris Marriott, the senior director of commercial leasing at FPDSavills, had been added to the list of confirmed SARS cases after the daily revealed health authorities had omitted his case and address from the list.
The government on Friday denied there was any cover up. SARS is believed to have arrived in Hong Kong from China, where officials have also been criticised for their response to the problem.
From Hong Kong it is believed to have spread to more than 30 countries, infected more than 3,600 people and caused more than 180 deaths.