- A hospital in China is surrounded by police, officials
in Toronto meet in emergency session and airline chiefs discuss the billion-dollar
losses from the collapse of international travel - welcome to the first
global epidemic of the 21st century.
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- Panic was spreading as fast as the virus responsible
for severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) as governments and health
authorities around the world struggled yesterday to contain public anxiety
over a disease that has so far killed 264 people and infected thousands
more.
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- In Britain, the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson,
resisted intense pressure to make Sars a notifiable disease alongside cholera
and smallpox, a measure that would allow health authorities to detain people
suspected of being infected.
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- Sir Liam said that all six cases in Britain have so far
been detected quickly and brought under control and there is no need, at
the moment, to introduce further draconian measures.
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- "We are in very, very close daily contact with the
World Health Organisation and the other countries involved and, far from
being feeble and complacent, we are working very, very hard," Sir
Liam said.
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- The WHO has warned travellers not to visit Toronto, the
only epicentre of the virus outside Asia, as well as Beijing and Hong Kong,
and the provinces of Guangdong and Shanxi in China where the Sars virus
is thought to have originated.
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- City officials in Toronto reacted with horror as they
witnessed a collapse in confidence among tourists and business people who
had planned to visit the Canadian city. They warned the WHO to "get
its facts straight".
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- "Let me be clear. If it's safe to live in Toronto,
it's safe to come to Toronto. I dare them [the WHO] to be here tomorrow,"
said Mel Lastman, the city's Mayor.
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- In China, which was criticised for not acting early enough
on Sars, government officials took dramatic action to impose rigorous quarantine
conditions on those suspected of being infected.
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- Police sealed off a 1,200-bed hospital in Beijing where
medical staff are being treated in order to prevent further spread of the
virus. "No one is allowed to enter or leave. There are police and
security guards outside," said one hospital official.
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- The hospital is not one of those set aside to treat Sars
patients but it has at least 60 confirmed or suspected cases among nurses
and doctors - a feature of the virus is its ability to strike those who
care for infected people.
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- Since the virus first began to spread in the southern
Chinese province of Guangdong last November it has affected 4,600 people
worldwide, mostly in south-east Asia but also in Canada where 330 cases
are suspected or have been confirmed.
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- In India, officials reported the first four cases and
the government ordered airport workers to wear face masks and to screen
people entering international airports. Of the four cases, one has recovered
and the other three are in isolation wards. Two other people have been
isolated in hospitals in Delhi and the western state of Maharashtra on
suspicion of being infected with the virus.
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- "All the states are geared up and are taking the
disease with the seriousness which it deserves. After the meeting with
officials, we are more confident we can tackle this," said India's
Health Minister, Sushma Swaraj.
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- In Singapore, one of the first countries outside China
to experience the disease, the toll rose to 17 deaths and two further suspected
cases. Officials said yesterday that all visitors to the city state would
have their temperature checked.
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- Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, said:
"We have to muster all our resolve and resources in order to fight
Sars. Then we can bring the outbreak under control, restore confidence
and get the economy moving.
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- "If we fail to do so, and allow the disease to overwhelm
us, the consequences will be catastrophic," he added.
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- In Taiwan, a hospital was closed off in the capital,
Taipei, after city officials said that a further 16 people may have become
infected.
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- Hong Kong officials announced the quarantine net there
is being widened to include people exposed or suspected of being infected,
as well as confirmed cases. They also said that 30 more infections have
been confirmed, taking the total in the city to 1,488.
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- British travellers returning to Heathrow described the
"terrifying" panic caused by Sars in the Far East. Passengers
arriving at Terminal 4 from Beijing - many wearing or clutching face masks
- said the disease was dominating daily life in China.
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- Sandra Perry, a school secretary from Sutton, Surrey,
who entered the arrivals hall still wearing her face mask, said she was
frightened and thought that screening measures in the UK should be tightened
up.
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- "I think Beijing have been too late and everybody
is now in panic mode, swabbing everything down with bleach. Everybody was
wearing masks... If we get a few more cases, we have to screen," Ms
Perry said.
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- Elsewhere in Europe, concern about Sars also began to
affect daily life. A couple in Brussels were asked to hold their wedding
ceremony outside the city hall after fears that the Chinese bride might
have caught Sars on a recent trip to the Far East.
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- The pen used by the newlyweds to sign their marriage
certificate was thrown away and staff washed their hands straight after
the ceremony. The registrar, Eric Sax, declined to shake hands with the
couple afterwards.
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- © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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