Steve Quayle News Alerts

May 7, 2003
By John Ruwitch

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday that the numberof SARS cases in Beijing, the worst affected place in the world, may soon begin falling but that the deadly virus could wreak havoc in the vast hinterlands.

Latest figures showed the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus had killed at least 18 more people and infected nearly 200 in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The worldwide death toll neared 500 with more than 7,300 cumulative infections.

The World Health Organisation said China was the key to containing global outbreaks of the flu-like virus.

A team of four WHO experts were to visit Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing and is home to some of the capital's "floating population" of migrant workers, on Thursday to assess the ability of local healthcare systems to cope with an outbreak. The number of probable SARS cases in Hebei has risen sharply in the last few days, WHO said on its Web site (www.who.int).

Most of China's SARS cases have been in Beijing and the southern city of Guangzhou with relatively few cases in the countryside so far.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told the cabinet that preventive measures in rural areas, where medical facilities are weak, "should attract a high level of attention."

"The countryside has the channels and potential risk for a SARS outbreak to spread," the People's Daily on Wednesday quoted him as saying.

China's Health Ministry said on Wednesday five more people had died of SARS and another 159 were infected, taking the national death toll to 219 and cases to 4,560. Three of the new deaths were in Beijing along with 97 of the latest infections.

The number of cases in Beijing would begin to fall in a week to 10 days, but it would take longer before bottoming out, Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday, quoting Liang Wannian, deputy chief of the Beijing Health Administration.

The capital city of 14 million people has reported a steady rise in cases the past two weeks -- often by more than 100 a day.

Hong Kong, the worst SARS-hit area on earth outside of China proper, said the virus had killed 11 more people in the territory and infected another eight.

Taiwan, which has seen its outbreak worsen in recent days, reported two more deaths and another 28 infections on Wednesday.

Cabinet spokesman Lin Chia-lung said health experts there thought the island had a good chance of containing the outbreak by the end of May.

But he said that, under a worst-case scenario, the number of probable infections could skyrocket to 800 from the current 125, if the island was as hard-hit as Hong Kong and Singapore.

SARS, which has no standard treatment, is believed to have originated in southern China in November and been spread around the world by travelers.

The WHO said on its Web Site that screening of air passengers and quarantines had worked to start controlling the disease.

Singapore, which has taken some of the toughest measures, said on Wednesday it could declare the epidemic under control if it goes 10 more days without a new case.

Twenty-seven people have died from SARS in Singapore out of 204 reported cases. But the number of people in hospital is at a five-week low and only four new cases emerged last week -- the lowest since the epidemic began in March.

The United States has already removed the tiny city-state from its list of SARS-affected areas to avoid. The advisory remains in effect for Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.

"The SARS virus is a clear and immediate threat to our nation," said Vivian Balakrishnan, minister of state for National Development. "It is like being caught in a storm on a mountainside. However, it is a storm that will not last forever."

SARS, which kills up to 10 percent of patients, is marked by a high fever, dry cough and pneumonia.

Roche Holding AG said on Wednesday that it was on track to have a SARS diagnostic test ready in June but that it might take at least 18 months for it to be ready for distribution beyond the research community.

The disease continued to take an economic toll.

Australia's Qantas Airways said on Wednesday the virus had bitten deeper into its business, forcing it to axe more staff and further shave its profit forecast for 2002/2003.

Taiwan's largest carrier, China Airlines, said it was talking with Boeing and Airbus to delay delivery of 18 planes due to the chilling impact of SARS on travel.

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