Pneumonia virus continues to plague Asia
<a href=iol.co.za>IOL March 31 2003 at 10:52AM
Hong Kong - Authorities on Monday took drastic new measures to combat a killer form of pneumonia as nearly 100 more cases were reported in the territory amid growing disruption to travel and business across Asia.
The increasingly fraught battle to contain severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) came as United States authorities warned that the virus could be more contagious than first thought and advised against travel to parts of Asia.
The mysterious illness has now infected more than 1 600 people in 15 countries and killed at least 59 people. It erupted in southern China, spread to Hong Kong and has been taken worldwide by airline passengers.
The Hong Kong authorities on Monday isolated an entire housing block for 10 days in an attempt to control the epidemic after 213 people on the estate were found to be infected - a rise of 92 overnight.
No hypothesis has been ruled outThe virus has now killed 13 people and infected another 630 in the city, and Health Secretary Yeoh Eng-kiong said the Amoy Gardens estate was put in isolation because the authorities were alarmed by the "huge increase" in cases.
Yeoh said no hypothesis has been ruled out in the battle against SARS, raising the possibility of a newly-mutated form of the virus that could undergo airborne transmission or survive extended periods of time on open surfaces.
Over the weekend the US Centre for Disease Control said the virus could move freely through the air and contaminate an object for as long as three hours. It also warned US citizens to avoid travelling to affected areas.
During the isolation period at Amoy Gardens, no one will be allowed to enter or leave the estate without express permission in writing from a health officer.
Medical personnel will visit residents, who will be given three meals a day free of charge as well as help and advice on how to clean and disinfect their homes.
More than 160 public housing estates have been cleansedA quarantine law invoked by Hong Kong's chief executive Tung Chee-hwa last Thursday as part of tougher measures to contain the respiratory illness - which included the closure of all schools until April 6 - took effect on Monday.
The SARS outbreak is causing growing unease in the former British colony, emptying restaurants and shopping malls, and forcing most residents to wear face masks in public.
The authorities have been disinfecting streets, public facilities. More than 160 public housing estates have been cleansed as part of efforts to combat the spread of the virus.
The outbreak is also starting to impact on airlines across Asia who have begun cancelling or rearranging schedules as demand for tickets to affected areas such as mainland China, Hong Kong and Vietnam plunges.
Meanwhile health officials in Canada's largest province, Ontario, on Sunday confirmed a fourth victim of SARS, which was brought into the country by a traveller returning from a family visit to Hong Kong.
In Singapore, the ministry of health announced the island state's third death from SARS on Sunday.
The latest deaths bring the worldwide toll from SARS to 59, with 34 deaths in China, 13 in Hong Kong, four in Vietnam, four in Canada, three in Singapore and one in Thailand, according to an AFP tally.
Fears of further transmission of the disease to Taiwan on Sunday prompted Taipei to propose cancelling a fledgling scheme that allows semi-direct links with rival China.
Direct links between the two, severed after a 1949 Chinese civil war, were restored on a limited basis in 2000 via intermediary islands. - Sapa-AFP