- SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Two
more people died of atypical pneumonia on Monday, Singapore said, as Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong canceled a trip to SARS-hit China and the deadly
virus spread to a fifth Singapore hospital.
-
- Days after showing some success in subduing the virus
that has killed 100 people worldwide and infected more than 2,600, Singapore
said six more nurses had been struck by the illness at three different
hospitals.
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- The infections bring Singapore's total confirmed SARS
cases to 112 -- the world's fourth-highest -- and raise concerns over how
quickly the disease is spreading despite aggressive attempts to stop it.
-
- As the country counted its eighth death from the disease,
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told Singaporeans to learn to live with the
virus, because it would not disappear soon.
-
- "What we are saying is this is not the end of the
world, there's life. With terrorism, with the Iraqi war, with SARS, we
are going to live as near normal a life as possible," he said.
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- The illness has dire consequences for Singapore's US$88
billion economy, which barely escaped a second recession in as many years
last year and was already hammered as exports fall during war in Iraq.
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- Orchard Road, a main shopping district, is quieter than
usual and taxi drivers complain of dwindling fares as residents stay home.
An industry body said some retailers reported sales down as much as 75
percent last weekend.
-
- Goh said the government would revise down its forecast
of 2-5 economic growth this year, citing the blow from SARS. Economists
have already done that, slashing forecasts for growth by one percentage
point, on average, according to a Reuters poll.
-
- "It is really across the board," said Jannie
Tay, president of the Singapore Retailers Association, referring to the
effect of the disease on retailers.
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- ISOLATION POLICY HIT
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- Singapore's SARS infection rate had slowed dramatically
last week. Just five new cases of the flu-like disease were confirmed over
the weekend, and only one on Friday.
-
- But new infections on Monday stoked fears of a possible
crack in its strategy to isolate the virus.
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- Singapore had contained SARS to one hospital, Tan Tock,
until last week when it reached National University Hospital and then on
Saturday hit KK, a women's hospital.
-
- On Sunday a doctor at Singapore General, the nation's
biggest hospital, came down with it, and on Monday SARS reached another
center, Changi General Hospital, with two new cases.
-
- Headlines of a confirmed SARS case at Singapore General,
the nation's busiest hospital, triggered a wave of panicked callers. Phone
lines at the hospital went down briefly as they swamped the switchboard,
asking if it was safe. Visitors to the hospital had their temperature taken
before they were allowed in.
-
- More than a dozen nurses at the hospital have developed
a fever -- a key symptom of the virus. Around 80 patients and 91 staff
were transferred in ambulances to Tan Tock.
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- The disease also took a diplomatic toll as Goh canceled
a visit to China to meet the country's new leadership, citing the outbreak
of SARS which has killed at least 53 people on the mainland, where it is
thought to have originated in November.
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