Beijing to stay open amid more SARS deaths

Beijing’s new mayor denied speculation that the capital was about to be sealed off, but admitted today that its hospitals were overloaded with SARS cases as China and Hong Kong reported 18 new deaths.

China also announced 166 new cases of infection, more than half in Beijing.

Hong Kong reported seven more dead and 17 new cases. Worried officials there said some patients have suffered relapses days after doctors declared them recovered.

In Singapore, teachers handed out thousands of digital thermometers to primary school pupils for early detection of the flu-like virus.

The global death toll from severe acute respiratory syndrome was at least 373. More than 5,400 cases have been reported in more than 20 countries.

China reported 11 new SARS fatalities – one in the eastern port of Tiajian, one in Inner Mongolia and nine in Beijing. Chinese officials, earlier accused of covering up the extent of the illness, are now battling rumours that they might impose sweeping authoritarian measures to control the illness that they say has killed 159 people.

Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan – appointed last week following the resignation of his predecessor, who was accused of mishandling the crisis – denied that the city of 13 million people would soon be closed off from the rest of the world or dusted with anti-SARS medications by aircraft at night.

“We haven’t made any such decisions,” he said. ”There is no issue of sealing off the city, according to the present situation.”

Fears that Beijing might be isolated and martial law declared spread after police set up roadblocks to check people in vehicles for SARS symptoms.

In a rare public admission by a senior Chinese official, Wang said the outbreak had overwhelmed 21 Beijing hospitals that have been designated for SARS treatment and there were not enough beds.

“Due to a shortage of berths at designated hospitals, not all suspected SARS patients can be hospitalised there in a timely manner,” he said.

Wang said the SARS outbreak “remains severe” and the number of cases in the city was still high. He described the coming week as “of critical importance.”

Beijing has reported 1,448 SARS cases and 8,924 people quarantined.

A special 1,000-bed SARS isolation unit is under construction north of the city, and Wang said the first 195 patients were to be moved in today.

In Hong Kong, with a death toll of 157, officials were ”very concerned” that some people earlier diagnosed as having recovered from SARS later were struck down by it again.

A Hospital Authority spokeswoman said that less than 10 patients had relapsed.

University of Hong Kong microbiologist Malik Peiris said relapses are “not a good thing,” but they weren’t surprising given how little is known about the virus that causes SARS.

In Malaysia, a patient at a psychiatric hospital – that been quarantined because of a suspected SARS outbreak – died today. He was its second patient to die after displaying SARS-like symptoms in the past eight days. Neither has been confirmed as a SARS case.

More than 540 staff and patients at the hospital in Kuching on the island of Borneo have been keep in isolation since Sunday.

India reported its tenth SARS case, a truck driver who returned from Singapore last week. Doctors said he had appeared to have recovered, but would be quarantined at home for 10 days as a precaution. No SARS patients have died in India.

In Canada, Toronto tried to get back to normal as the World Health Organisation lifted a travel advisory that had been prompted by that city’s SARS outbreak.

Its Blue Jays baseball team sold out a major league game against the Texas Rangers last night by selling about 34,000 tickets at 43p each – a fraction of the normal seat price.

“This is an opportunity to say Look we’re all right, we’re a vibrant, safe and healthy city,” said Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey.