SARS virus far from under control as China reports 160 cases
And in a sign the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is more robust than previously thought, the World Health Organisation said the organism could survive outside the human body longer than previously thought.
China’s Health Ministry said nine more people had died from SARS, taking the nation’s total to 206.
It said there had been 160 new infections, similar to totals in the past several days. China has now recorded 4,280 cases, the bulk of the world’s total.
Villagers in China protested violently yesterday against quarantining suspected SARS patients near their homes and China reported scores more cases, suggesting the deadly disease was far from under control at the epicentre of global outbreaks.
About 1,000 villagers in the town of Xiandie in coastal Zhejiang province smashed and overturned police and government cars, and demanded that the patients, quarantined in the poorly equipped office building, be moved away.
The riot in Zhejiang followed another big protest last week sparked by SARS fears in Chagugang, a township 70 km (45 miles) southeast of Beijing. Villagers there rioted over a plan to use an abandoned school to quarantine patients.
While China’s government battled to stop SARS spreading out of control in its vast rural heartland, there were signs the virus was being contained elsewhere in Asia.
Singapore, which has the world’s third-highest number of SARS deaths, has gone 48 hours without a new case. Yesterday it reopened a major food market at the heart of a recent outbreak.
Hospitals, the scene of most SARS infections in Singapore, also appear to have brought the virus under control with no infections occurring in any hospital in 16 days.
Hong Kong reported three more deaths, for a total of 187, and eight new infections, the same figures as Sunday and the lowest since mid-March, reinforcing hopes that a virus that has wreaked havoc on the city’s economy is finally on the wane.
The news was a relief for battered investors, who drove the Hong Kong and Singapore stock markets higher in cautious trade.
In a report that could shed light on the frightening spread of SARS, the WHO said on the virus could live up to four days in the waste from patients with diarrhoea. But standard disinfectants such as chlorine bleach killed the virus in five minutes, the WHO found.
In a further twist, the Washington Post reported that the virus lives on plastic surfaces for 24 hours, although WHO did not post this on its website.
SARS, which has killed nearly 460 people and infected about 6,900 worldwide, is caused by a new member of the coronavirus family. It is related to viruses that cause the common cold and gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases in animals.
After weeks of economic gloom, Hong Kong and Singapore stocks firmed on fresh hopes that the spread of the virus may be waning outside China, but volumes were light and the mood was cautious.
In a reminder of SARS’s huge economic cost, a key tourism body in Australia yesterday said fears over the virus and the Iraq war had slashed tourist arrivals by a fifth last month and the drop in visitors was set to get worse.
Australia’s tourism industry stood to lose between A$1 billion (€563 million) and A$2bn (€1.125bn) in revenues this year, threatening many of the sector’s 550,000-strong workforce, the Australian Tourism Export Council said in its latest survey of tourism operators.
Across the Asia-Pacific region, SARS has hammered regional airlines, cruise operators, travel agencies, hotels, restaurants and retail and taxi services.
SARS has killed 26 of the 203 people infected in Singapore.
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