HK braces as global toll mounts. More than 2,500 cases of SARS have been reported worldwide.
Source Monday, April 7, 2003 Posted: 2:55 AM EDT (0655 GMT)
Experts say there was a major setback in the struggle to contain a potentially deadly virus spreading worldwide.
WHO experts search for clues in the place the first SARS cases were reported.
HONG KONG, China -- Hong Kong hospitals are bracing for a worst case-scenario of up to 3,000 cases of the SARS virus by the end of April, as one more person succumbed to the illness in Canada.
Hong Kong recorded two new deaths on Sunday, bringing to 22 the number of people who have fallen victim to the mysterious SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in the territory.
Authorities also said they had 42 new SARS cases, with 842 people so far infected in this former British colony of 6.9 million people. Over a hundred have recovered so far.
In Singapore, where infection numbers are the fourth highest in the world, its prime minister warned growth targets for the year would have to be revised downward because of the outbreak.
So far, SARS has killed 95 people around the globe.
The latest victim was from Canada, bringing to nine the death toll in the country. Infections have risen to 179 in the province of Ontario, which has the bulk of cases.
Canada has the world's third highest infection total. Globally, cases exceed 2,600.
Enormous strain
In Hong Kong, Hospital Authority chairman Leong Che-hung told a local television station there would be sufficient manpower and facilities to deal with up to 3,000 patients, although intensive care units would be under pressure.
A rising number of infections has placed enormous strain on hospitals, especially since most of those infected have been health workers.
"We hope that we can contain the disease so that we don't have to go to the worst-case scenario," Leong said during an interview with ATV.
The government is now trying to hire doctors and nurses from the private sector.
Dr. Lo Wing-lok, an infectious disease expert in Hong Kong, told The Associated Press he thought the illness could be contained in two to three weeks by more quarantines and mandatory checkups, but also issued a warning.
"If there's no change in the distribution of resources and no contingency plans, most of the regional hospitals would not be able to provide normal services to patients," said
Hong Kong is the second worst-hit area after southern China's Guangdong province, where the disease originated.
China has been slammed for being too slow to acknowledge the disease and warn its neighbors. It said on Monday its death toll had climbed to 53 with 1,268 infections as of April 6.
A Finnish man died in Beijing from the virus on Sunday, taking the number of deaths in China's capital to four, a health official said. (Full story)
As the death toll mounts, the World Health Organization (WHO) says the key to controlling the disease could lie in identifying highly infectious people, known as "super spreaders."
A WHO team is visiting hospitals and talking with experts in Guangdong, where the epidemic is thought to have originated, to hunt for clues.
Chinese health officials say the disease has been brought under "effective control."
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, whose administration is grappling with its first big crisis since taking office in March, said China was "safe to visit" and the country could curb the spread of the disease. (Full story)
Experts have linked SARS to a new form of coronavirus, other types of which usually are found in animals.
Other developments
• The biggest hospital in Singapore, which has 106 infections, started screening visitors after 20 of its nurses and a doctor were suspected of catching the virus.
• In Hong Kong, 22 percent of flights were cancelled on Sunday, similar to Saturday's level, as travelers cancelled their plans.
• Also in Hong Kong, a 45-year-old man locked himself in his apartment and refused treatment for the illness, holding police at bay for 14 hours before agreeing to go to a hospital.
• A vaccine is being developed by the United State's National Institutes of Health. The U.S. president adds SARS to the list of communicable diseases, the first new disease to be added in two decades.(Quarantine order)
• Indonesia has temporarily suspended sending its nationals to other Asia after it declared the disease a national epidemic last week. (Indonesian move)
• In Australia 14 people have been identified for medical assessment at airports since the introduction of the new quarantine arrangement on Friday.
The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.