Hong Kong Ups SARS Alert as Cases Rise
San Petersburg Times By Margaret Wong
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HONG KONG - Health officials announced a sharp rise Monday in cases of a flu-like disease at a Hong Kong apartment complex and slapped a 10-day quarantine on one building as they scrambled to contain the illness that has killed nearly 60 people worldwide.
The 92 new cases at Amoy Gardens apartments brought the total number infected in the 19-building complex to 213.
The surge in cases led some health officials to fear severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, could be more contagious than had been initially expected.
There is still no known treatment for SARS, which has killed nearly 60 people, with the majority of cases in Hong Kong and China.
Three new deaths were reported Sunday, one each in Hong Kong, Toronto and Singapore. More than 1,600 people have been infected around the world.
A World Health Organization official said Monday that experts believe they can soon identify the virus causing SARS, though finding a cure could take longer.
"I think we can identify the causative agent in quite a short time period. We think probably within a few days, at most a few weeks," said Hitoshi Oshitani, the WHO coordinator for SARs, at a news conference in Manila.
"But this doesn't mean we will find the specific treatment for this disease within the short time period."
The illness has prompted officials in Asian countries to impose long-unused quarantine laws, close schools and impose new health screening on travelers. Canadian officials declared a health emergency.
In Hong Kong, residents at Block E of Amoy Gardens, were ordered to stay in their homes until midnight April 9 or face fines or jail time, while being offered regular medical checkups and three free meals per day.
Hong Kong officials said 107 people from Block E are sick.
Hong Kong's health secretary, Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong, told a news conference the quarantine was forced by "a very exceptional circumstance."
Yeoh was emotional and initially had trouble speaking to reporters. "We haven't done it before and we hope we won't do it again," he said of the quarantine.
Singapore's health minister, Lim Hng Kiang, said the disease may spread more easily than first believed, with some people found to be more infectious than others.
These people can sicken as many as 40 others, he said.
"We run the risk of a huge new cluster of infected people, which could start a chain reaction," Lim told a news conference Sunday.
Yeoh said Hong Kong officials believe the virus was brought to Amoy Gardens by a man infected at a hospital where many of Hong Kong's victims have fallen ill.
Asked whether SARS was spreading through the air, Yeoh said that couldn't be ruled out.
Officials had said previously the illness, which has killed 13 people in Hong Kong, seemed to spread through close contact and Yeoh said experts still believe the sickness is being transmitted mostly through droplets, when victims sneeze or cough and nearby people are infected.
"No one can rule out this possibility of airborne transmission, because the virus can change so quickly these days," Yeoh said.
Police sealed Block E at Amoy Gardens with metal barricades and tape after the quarantine was ordered in the early hours of the morning .
Speaking to local television and radio stations, one resident said he would bide his time with the Internet and video games. A woman grumbled that jail inmates probably get better treatment.
"They only gave me a loaf of white bread," said the woman, identifying herself to TVB television as Ms. Lam. "Have they thought about our feelings? I haven't been jailed before, but I understand that prisoners even get newspapers to read."
In China, where the disease has killed at least 34 people, people rushed to buy surgical masks and herbal cold remedies as unease rose.
In Canada, another death was reported Sunday to bring the toll there to four. About 100 probable or suspect cases have been reported from the west coast city of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the east coast city of New Brunswick.
Officials have closed two hospitals to new patients, and hundreds of people have been quarantined in their homes.
The World Health Organization recommended that international travelers from Toronto and several Asian cities get screened for symptoms, which include high fever, dry cough and shortness of breath.
The International Ice Hockey Federation canceled the women's world championships scheduled to begin Thursday in Beijing, following numerous other cancellations of concerts, anti-war protests and other events in infected areas.
The federation said the spread of the illness to Beijing from southern China put the players at risk.
Hockey players for Canada, the defending champion, were disappointed but understood.
"You could lose your life going there and just being in contact with somebody," forward Danielle Goyette said. "Life is more important than hockey right now."