SARS hits Malaysia; Hong Kong reports more deaths

etaiwannews.com 2003-04-06 / Associated Press / SINGAPORE

Hong Kong and Malaysia reported new deaths from a mystery illness yesterday, bringing the global death toll to at least 89, while China vowed to share more information on the disease that apparently started in one of its southern provinces.

Hong Kong reported three new deaths yesterday and said the number of its people infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, had risen to 800 - accounting for more than a third of the world's more than 2,300 cases. The disease has killed 20 in the territory.

U.S. President George W. Bush followed the lead of governments in Asia and Canada by giving American health authorities the power to quarantine anyone infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

U.S. health authorities are investigating about 100 suspected cases of the disease at home. More than 2,300 people worldwide have been infected.

The U.S. Pacific Command ordered all military personnel not to travel to China and Hong Kong - including Navy ships that regularly dock in Hong Kong - unless it was essential to their missions.

In China, where the government has been criticized for failing to notify the international community when SARS first hit in November, Vice Premier Wu Yi promised to start releasing more information to the public, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Malaysia became the 20th place to join the list of SARS-affected areas after confirming that the illness killed a 64-year-old man who died on March 30 in Kuala Lumpur. He developed SARS symptoms during a recent visit to China, said Malaysia's Health Ministry Director-General Mohamad Taha Arif.

Thailand's Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said he was considering calling military medics to help screen incoming passengers for the disease. The World Health Organization, or WHO, has reported seven SARS cases and two deaths in Thailand.

Singapore said the number of new infections in the city-state was dropping and people should resume their normal routines. The government said it would begin reopening the country's schools in the coming week after shutting them last month due to the disease, which has killed six people and infected 101.

However, parents will have to sign declarations saying their children are healthy, and students who have traveled outside Singapore will have their temperatures taken by school staff for 10 days after their return.