Killer bug infects 92 in one building

ITV 17.02PM BST, 31 Mar 2003   Dozens of health workers in full surgical gear stood guard at the entrance of the apartment block to stop any residents from leaving

Almost 100 people in one Hong Kong apartment block have been infected by a deadly pneumonia virus.

Authorities quarantined more than 200 people in one block of the Amoy Gardens housing complex in an effort to contain the virus, which has killed nearly 60 people worldwide and spread alarm across Asia.

About 210 of the 620 people infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong live in Amoy Gardens and 150 of them are from Block E of the complex.

A further 92 people have now reported infected in the block, located in the midst of the teeming Kowloon district of the territory, one of the most densely-populated areas in the world.

"We are now examining all possible angles, to see if it is airborne or in the (building's) water mains," a government spokeswoman said.

Dozens of health workers in full surgical gear stood guard at the entrance of the apartment block to stop any residents from leaving as policemen in masks cordoned off the area.

But residents said many families had already fled.

Elsewhere, the city's largest bank, HSBC, ordered about 50 of its headquarters staff to stay home for seven days as a precautionary move after a teller fell ill, and activated a back-up dealing room to run until the end of the crisis.

Both Hong Kong and Singapore have closed all schools in a bid to contain the disease and quarantined those who have been exposed.

Besides these two cities, deaths have also been reported from Vietnam, Canada and from China, where the disease was believed to have originated in November.

A doctor from the World Health Organisation, who was infected in Vietnam after he had identified the virus, died in a Bangkok hospital at the weekend, the latest victim.

The disease has also triggered tighter screenings at many airports and a growing number of countries have advised citizens against unnecessary travel to the worst-affected areas.