Two more flu deaths reported

News.com.au March 31, 2003

TWO more people have died of a mystery flu-like illness in Hong Kong, health officials said.

Hong Kong has now suffered 15 deaths from severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and the global total has topped 60.

The Hong Kong health secretary, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, told a news conference a 79-year-old man who also had heart disease and a man in his 60s who did not receive early treatment for SARS were the latest victims.

Yeoh said Hong Kong officials were considering the establishment of quarantine centres. He did not say where they would be or how many people they might end up holding.

Hong Kong has now reported 610 cases of the disease, including an alarming jump of 92 cases at a single apartment complex where 213 people have been hospitalised.