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SARS claims another 18
lives in China and Hong Kong
HONG KONG (AFP) Hong Kong and Chinese health
authorities each reported nine deaths from the
pneumonia-like SARS, but the former British colony
reported only 10 new cases -- the lowest number since
the outbreak of the disease here in mid-March.
The new figures brought the total number of deaths in
Hong Kong to 179 and infections to 1,621, with the low
number of new cases further boosting hopes that the
SARS epidemic here has stabilised.
But despite China reporting only nine deaths Saturday,
the country has now suffered a death toll of 190.
Another 181 new cases brought the total number of
infections on the mainland so far to 3,971.
Five of the new deaths occurred in the capital
Beijing, as did 114 of the new cases, bringing the
death toll in the capital to 96 from 1,741 infections.
Nine cases that had previously been announced as SARS
had been misdiagnosed, the health ministry said.
Police in Singapore meanwhile filed criminal charges
against a man who defied a home quarantine order,
signalling the government's determination to enforce
an all-out campaign against SARS.
Chua Hock Seng, a jobless and single 50-year-old, was
charged in court while being held in isolation at the
central police station after being arrested late
Friday at a coffee shop where his presence had caused
alarm.
Some 3,000 people are currently under home quarantine
for a minimum of 10 days in Singapore for observation
after having been potentially exposed to the Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, for which
there is no cure or vaccine.
The arrest of Chua, who is not classified as a
suspected SARS case, followed the passage of tougher
quarantine laws, including hefty fines and up to a
year in jail for violators, under the Infectious
Diseases Act.
SARS has claimed 25 lives and infected at least 203
people in Singapore, a densely populated city-state
whose economy has been badly shaken by SARS.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on Friday lashed out at "selfish"
people hampering the campaign against SARS, and
described Chua's acts as "madness."
"One selfish act can bring an organisation to a halt
for a few days and if this goes on in a big way, it
can bring the whole economy to a (grinding halt)," he
added.
Hong Kong's government meanwhile announced it will
discuss with the World Health Organisation (WHO) the
possibility of lifting its month-long travel advisory
against the city because of the SARS outbreak, an
official said.
Speaking to reporters after a radio programme,
Secretary for Health Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong said he would
discuss the matter with David Heyman, the head of the
WHO's communicable diseases section, in a
video-conference session at the end of next week.
"I will be discussing with Dr Heyman at the end of
next week through video-conference ... to see how we
can move forward and for us to continue discussions on
the criteria for lifting the travel ban," he said.
The WHO warning has devastated Hong Kong's travel and
tourism industry with around 40 percent of flights at
the Hong Kong International Airport cancelled in April
while passenger numbers plummeted 60 percent.
In Canada -- the worst effected nation outside of Asia
with more than 20 SARS deaths -- the Montreal-based
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) urged
its 188 member states to screen all airline passengers
arriving from, or transiting through, SARS-infected
areas in a bid to halt the virus.
The rapid spread of SARS outbreak in Taiwan meanwhile
forced its president Chen Shui-bian to Saturday
postpone planned state visits to four allied countries,
as the isolated island awaited assistance from the WHO
to help it contain the disease.
WHO personnel in Beijing said Saturday the UN body was
sending a team to the island, after Taiwan's SARS
death toll grew to seven people from a total of 102
cases, according to official statistics.
"The WHO's willingness to send medical experts to
Taiwan to help handle the epidemic is most welcome by
our government," Taiwan's cabinet spokesman Lin
Chia-lung told a press conference.
Lin, however, stressed the matter was absolutely
unrelated to China -- whose consent was reportedly
what made the trip possible in the first place.
(03/05/2003)
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