China orders schools shut for two more weeks over SARS fears

CHINA ordered schools in Beijing to stay closed for another two weeks and put aside politics to allow a WHO team to visit rival Taiwan as the communist giant took tough measures to contain the spread of the lethal SARS virus.

In Hong Kong, a major health scare ended happily for 10 Indian sailors, who were released from hospital and declared free of the virus after their tanker made an emergency stop in the territory when members of its crew showed symptoms of SARS.

Beijing, which had been reporting more than 100 new cases a day over the past couple of weeks, saw 69 fresh cases and four deaths yesterday, the health ministry said. Health officials said the SARS outbreak had begun to peak in Beijing. But authorities, taking no chances after being harshly criticised for covering up the extent of the virus, yesterday said elementary schools, which had been due to reopen on May 8 after a two-week suspension, would remain closed. While SARS may be coming under control in the capital city of 14 million the worst-affected place in the world concern has grown about its spread to the impoverished countryside, where 70% of China's 1.3 billion people live.

But rural hospitals get just 20% of national funding. On Saturday, the government tripled funds set aside to fight SARS to six billion yuan €645m. SARS, which has killed nearly 450 people and infected 6,700 worldwide, is caused by a new, rapidly-mutating member of the corona family of viruses. Air travellers have spread the disease across the world over the last two months. It is mainly passed by droplets through sneezing and coughing.

China's newfound openness has been extended to Taiwan. WHO experts arrived there on Saturday after Beijing had earlier rejected the organisation's offer of help for the island.

"The Chinese government has great concern for the health and well-being of the Chinese people, including our Taiwan compatriots, and pays a high level of attention to the SARS outbreak in Taiwan," Xinhua news agency quoted a health ministry spokesman as saying in explanation for allowing the visit. China considers the self-ruling island to be a renegade province. The United Nations does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country, so permission was needed from Beijing to allow the WHO to visit.

Taiwan has seen its cumulative cases nearly triple over the past 10 days to 204 the fourth-highest in the world with eight deaths. Last week the island imposed a mandatory 14-day quarantine on all travellers coming from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and Toronto.

Singapore, which has seen 25 deaths from SARS, has enforced some of the strictest curbs in the world to contain it and has repeatedly vowed to prosecute anyone who breaks quarantine.

About 3,154 people have been confined and are liable to fines of €4,000 or six months in jail if they leave their homes. Newspapers yesterday reported that police detained a 50-year-old Chinese man who broke his home quarantine order.