- HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters)
- Hong Kong reported a record nine SARS deaths in a day on Tuesday, including
its youngest victim to date, as the Chinese capital of Beijing at last
woke up to a virus creeping into its hinterland.
-
- U.S. and Canadian scientists said they had independently
mapped the genome of the new virus blamed for causing severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS), raising hopes a test could be developed so treatment can
be given as soon as possible.
-
- But with airlines canceling flights, tourists staying
at home and shops and restaurants empty in SARS hotspots like Hong Kong
and Singapore, Asian governments are facing their greatest challenge since
the 1997-98 regional economic crisis.
-
- The Standard & Poor's Rating agency said the impact
would cut 0.6 percent to 1.5 percent of the gross domestic product in Hong
Kong. Singapore's GDP could be 0.4 to 2.0 percent lower and China's could
lose up to 0.5 percent.
-
- Carried around the world by travelers after first appearing
in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, the virus has infected 3,300
people and killed 144 in more than 20 countries.
-
- In Hong Kong, neighboring Guangdong, the government said
SARS had killed nine more people on Tuesday and infected 42.
-
- The youngest of Tuesday's victims was a 32-year-old woman,
the youngest yet to die of the disease in the former British colony which
was returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
-
- "I think during the last couple of days, our concerns
remain the number of deaths and of the people who died some of them were
rather young," Hospital Authority acting Chief Executive Ko Wing-man
told a news conference.
-
- The dead also included a pregnant woman.
-
- Ko said the treatment used in Hong Kong now -- a mix
of anti-viral drugs and steroids -- had seen good response in 80 percent
to 90 percent of patients.
-
- Of the 42 newly infected patients, 11 were health-care
workers. "We are experiencing a difficult time now because many patients
have accumulated in public hospitals," Ko said.
-
- The latest figures bring the Hong Kong death toll to
56 and the number of cases to 1,232.
-
- After months of hiding their SARS outbreak, China's leaders
started a highly publicized battle to halt its spread.
-
- Nearly half of the world's cases have occurred in China,
where 64 people have died and more than 1,430 have been infected.
-
- Premier Wen Jiabao called on "the whole nation"
to "work closely together to win the fierce battle" against SARS,
and ordered a campaign to scrub down planes, trains, buses, trucks, taxis
and office blocks to kill the virus.
-
- Fearful of a longer-term impact on Asia's fastest growing
economy, Wen and Communist Party boss Hu Jintao have appeared in major
hospitals and met doctors on the front lines of the battle against SARS.
-
- Posters have been plastered around city streets and subways
calling on people to wash their hands after wiping their noses, cut down
on drinking and smoking and keep face masks handy.
-
- SARS SNEAKS WIDER
-
- But the disease is spreading around China.
-
- The southeastern province of Fujian reported its first
cases. Infections in Beijing rose sharply. More cases were logged in Guangdong,
which opened its flagship Canton Trade Fair on Wednesday with foreign participation
well down.
-
- Poor northern Shanxi, one of the first provinces to report
SARS in travelers from Guangdong, saw an alarming spike in reported cases
to 82 since March.
-
- The World Health Organization the hinterland, where the
health system receives one fifth of government spending but serves 70 percent
of the population.
-
- China, under fire for being slow in reporting the Guangdong
outbreak to the international community, is now issuing updates rapid-fire.
The Health Ministry reports cases daily to WHO, while Beijing and Guangdong
file separate and often confusing tallies.
-
- Still, skepticism at this sudden transparency remains.
-
- Last week, a Beijing military doctor criticized the health
minister for covering up SARS cases and said there were at least 140 cases
in military hospitals in the capital alone. A WHO team was still waiting
to be allowed into them.
-
- "They have not yet granted WHO experts permission
to visit military hospitals, which have been the focus of numerous rumors,"
WHO said on its Web site (www.who.int).
-
- RIPPLES AROUND THE REGION
-
- The grim economic toll has rippled through the region.
-
- WHO said in a statement the global economic consequences,
now estimated at US$30 billion, could be greater should SARS continue to
spread.
-
- S&P said the outbreak would lower economic growth
rates for much of Asia in 2003 as the disease changes lifestyles and dents
consumption, with the gravest damage inflicted on Hong Kong.
-
- "The adjustments in each economy are largely proportionate
to the gravity of the outbreak, and to the importance of tourism and domestic
consumption to the economy," said Ping Chew, S&P's Asia-Pacific
Sovereign Ratings Group director.
-
- In Hong Kong, the cabinet huddled to discuss how to ease
the pain of Hong Kong's seven million people. About 60,000 restaurant and
hotel workers have either lost their jobs or are on unpaid leave. Unions
say the jobless rate may hit eight percent.
-
- The International Monetary Fund said Vietnam's rapid
economic growth would be curbed by the spread of SARS, but not as severely
as Hong Kong and Singapore.
-
- Asian tourism executives, meeting on the Indonesian island
of Bali, grasped a few positive straws as they grappled with a disease
savaging tourist destinations and hammering airlines.
-
- The only option was to promote Asian destinations outside
the SARS zone and tap into growing domestic travel within big countries
such as China, India and Indonesia, they said.
-
- Singapore, with the world's fourth-highest number of
cases, backed temporary wage cuts and shorter work weeks for the tourist
sector. Twelve people are believed to have died from SARS.
-
- It said the number of visitors dropped by more than half
in early April, the first official indication of the scale of damage to
the tourism sector.
-
- Canadian health officials said SARS had spread to a tightly
knit religious group in Toronto, with 31 probable and suspect cases. With
13 deaths, Canada is the only country outside Asia where people have died
of SARS.
-
- In one bright spot, Japan cleared all but one of 45 suspected
SARS cases. Health experts credited pure luck -- and handwashing.
-
- Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
|
