Asian SARS gains continue as Canadian outbreak weighs on Ontario

News, May 2003, Al-Jazeerah.info

(AFP), Khaleej Times, 30 May 2003

BEIJING - China admitted on Friday the battle against SARS remained “arduous” even as the number of reported deaths and new cases continued to fall.

In contrast, however, the number of cases in Canada’s resurgent outbreak almost tripled after it was forced to reclassify previously cleared patients as sufferers of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

China’s health ministry warned there remained challenges ahead despite an easing in its SARS crisis.

In a statement on Friday it said the outbreak of the pneumonia-like disease in China had “shown signs of alleviation” but warned “we should realize clearly that the task of controlling SARS is still arduous”.

Vice Health Minister Gao Qiang added: “There is still a long way to go towards eventual elimination of SARS. We cannot relax our vigilance because of the lower number of new cases.”

Seven new cases and one death brought China’s toll to 328 dead from 5,328 infections. In early May the daily average of new cases was 151, but by mid-May, it had dropped to 45, and to 14 by the end of the month, Gao said.

The ebbing crisis in China was matched elsewhere in Asia.

Former hotspot Hong Kong reported just four new SARS cases and one more death, bringing its cumulative totals to 274 dead from 1,736 cases. Its daily infection rate has remained in single digits since mid-May.

And Singapore -- where 31 people have died from SARS -- was awaiting removal from the World Health Organisation’s list of SARS-affected countries after clocking up 19 days without a new infection. The WHO demands a nation go 20 days without reporting any new infections to be declared SARS-free.

Even Taiwan, which in the past month raced to become the world’s third worst affected region, the death toll remained unchanged at 81. Seven new infections raised the number of case to 667.

In more good news, Taipei’s health ministry said the rate of infection among health workers had dropped to zero.

Across the Pacific, however, the news was less upbeat as Canada was forced to almost triple its number of SARS infections after adopting a different disease identification procedure.

Under the previous definition of an active probable case -- established by Ontario health officials -- Canada had 12 infections from a new cluster discovered in Toronto last week.

But under the newly adopted WHO classification, the number rose to 33, including four who had died soon after the outbreak’s discovery.

Health officials switched definitions after coming under fire on Wednesday for possibly under-reporting the magnitude of the illness.

A new increase in cases could put Toronto back on the WHO’s travel advisory list weeks after it was removed. Earlier this week, Toronto was re-instated on the list of SARS-affected areas.

The latest outbreak is being traced to a 96-year-old man, who apparently contracted SARS after pelvic surgery at North York General Hospital.

Canadian authorities are particularly worried about the effects of the new outbreak on its already ailing tourism industry.

Similarly in Asia, with the disease apparently receding, governments are turning their attention to clearing up the mess SARS has made of their economies.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, calling on Hong Kong “to unite as one” against SARS, has promised a package of measures next month to help revive the territory’s battered economy.

And the National Tourism Administration in Beijing granted travel agencies in Guangdong permission to resume tours to neighbouring Hong Kong and Macau.

The announcements were timely, coming the day Hong Kong economists announced SARS had pulled down GDP by 1.8 percentage points causing the economy to contract in the past quarter.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

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