Asia steps up ‘war’ on SARS

Taiwan has banned visitors from the countries worst-hit by SARS and Beijing has closed theaters, cinemas and other entertainment centres in the battle to contain the deadly virus.

Taiwan has banned visitors from the countries worst-hit by SARS and Beijing has closed theaters, cinemas and other entertainment centres in the battle to contain the deadly virus.Taiwanese Premier Yu Shyi-kun announced a ban on visitors from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada, coupled with a 10-day quarantine for Taiwan residents returning from those countries.”Fighting the epidemic is like fighting a war. We face an invisible enemy,” he said.Announcing the most draconian moves to date to control the often-fatal severe acute respiratory syndrome, Mr Yu said Taiwan would stop issuing visitor and resident visas to people from the four SARS hot spots, and even those with multiple-entry Taiwan visas would be denied entry.At least 316 people around the world have died from SARS, which started in China’s Guangdong province late last year. Air travellers have since carried it to more than 20 countries, triggering concern across the globe.SARS, which kills about 6 per cent of the people it infects, has no known cure and a WHO official says it may take years to find a SARS vaccine.More than two-thirds of the deaths have been in China and Hong Kong, the two worst-hit areas, although 21 people have died in Singapore and another 21 in Canada.There are more than 5,200 cases of the disease and thousands of people have been placed in quarantine for the 10-day period that it takes the illness to develop. Hotels, airlines and retailers already face slumping sales and experts say the economic costs are bound to rise.Canada, the only country outside Asia where people have died from SARS, dismissed Taiwan’s ban as excessive and insisted it would fight the measure.Window of opportunity”We believe that this measure is excessive and that it will cause considerable inconvenience to the traveling public,” said Kimberly Phillips, a spokeswoman for Canada’s ministry of foreign affairs.”Our officials are taking immediate steps to have this measure withdrawn.”Canada is already fighting tooth and nail to persuade the World Health Organisation to abandon a recommendation that travellers avoid non-essential travel to the Toronto area.WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said that the organization would review its warning tomorrow but he offered no assurances that the advisory would be lifted.”We have received a lot of information from Health Canada and we are reviewing it,” Mr Thomson said. “It is possible we may change it. It is possible we may not.”In London, Gro Harlem Brundtland, WHO director-general, said the epidemic could still be contained if countries tackled it seriously.”I think we still have a window of opportunity,” Ms Brundtland told the BBC. “We have a chance to do it now if we work together globally, across the countries, and do what is necessary to control the outbreak.”Denying that the WHO’s response to the outbreak was excessive, she added: “We are doing what is prudent and necessary … to control a new disease before it becomes global and constant as an added burden to humanity.”China initially came in for fierce criticism for its sluggish response to the illness but it has since sacked its health minister and the Beijing mayor for mishandling the SARS crisis.Tougher lineIn recent weeks, Chinese authorities have taken a tougher line, closing Beijing schools last week and following that with a decision to close the capital’s theaters, cinemas and other entertainment centres.”It is very hard to make the ventilation, disinfection, and other conditions in entertainment outlets in Beijing meet the demands needed to prevent SARS,” the Beijing Youth Daily quoted a city cultural official as saying.Beijing, which has 14 million residents, has reported 1,114 infections and 56 SARS deaths.Taiwan has reported just one death, but an outbreak at a Taipei hospital last week propelled the number of probable cases in Taiwan to 55 from 33, and raised the number of suspect cases to 72 from about 50.It also prompted the travel ban – a bitter blow to trading partners like Hong Kong.”Taiwan should consider lifting such measures in the interest of facilitating commercial, tourism and other exchanges between Hong Kong and Taiwan,” a Hong Kong government spokesman said.New deathsThe disease has also caused widespread alarm in mainland China and Hong Kong. China recorded nine new deaths on Sunday, taking the toll to 131 out of about 3,000 cases, while Hong Kong raised its fatality count by 12 to 133, with 1,543 cases.The rising death tolls provided a somber backdrop to a weekend meeting of health representatives from China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and 10 Southeast Asian states.The officials agreed to impose checks on all departing passengers at airports.Canada said it might install infrared devices at two key airports. The devices, already in use at some Asian airports, can detect the high fever that is a symptoms of the disease.(Source: ABC, Monday, April 28, 2003. 7:28am (AEST))