Hospitals may be unable to cope with new SARS cases

Hong Kong’s hospitals may be unable to cope with new cases of a deadly mystery disease coming in daily, the legislature’s medical representative said today - but he predicted that the illness could be contained in two to three weeks.

Earlier, a man who refused treatment for SARS – severe acute respiratory syndrome – was locked in a 14-hour stand-off with Hong Kong police before he agreed to go to a hospital.