China fights Sars spread into provinces

By JOHN RUWITCH in Beijing

United Nations health experts head to a Chinese province today to assess the rapid spread of Sars after the Government said the illness could wreak havoc in the countryside, where health services are often poor.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, trying to stop Sars spreading in the densely populated hinterlands, has told his Cabinet to take urgent preventive measures in areas where "basic rural medical facilities are weak".

A team of four World Health Organisation experts will assess the ability of healthcare systems to cope with a Sars outbreak in Hebei province, where the number of probable cases has risen sharply in the past few days.

The province wraps around the capital, Beijing, which has the world's highest number of cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome and is home to a floating population of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, many from Hebei.

Sars first surfaced in southern China late last year and has killed 219 people and infected 4560 in the world's most populous nation.

Fears are growing that China's creaking rural health system is unable to cope with major outbreaks of the illness, despite strong Government measures to control its spread.

Worldwide, the Sars death toll is nearly 500 and more than 7300 have been infected.

In China's countryside, some villages set up roadblocks to keep away people from Beijing and rioting against Sars quarantine centres has been reported.

Thousands were quarantined in the eastern city of Nanjing.

A police official said 64 people had been rounded up for rioting in the northern city of Chengde because they suspected a local clinic would be turned into a Sars hospital.

About 100 rioters overturned an ambulance and smashed medical equipment and windows with bricks on April 27, the official said.

Several doctors were slightly injured in the rampage in the city 180km northeast of Beijing, the fourth known riot over Sars.

China's Health Ministry said five more people had died of Sars and a further 159 were infected.

Beijing has reported a steady rise in cases over the past two weeks - often by more than 100 a day.

Liang Wannian, deputy chief of the Beijing Health Administration, said the number of cases in the capital would begin to fall in a week to 10 days, but it would take longer before bottoming out.

Hong Kong, the worst Sars-hit area outside of China proper, said the virus had killed 11 more people and infected eight more.

Taiwan reported two more deaths and a further 28 infections.

Singapore, which has taken some of the toughest measures, said it could declare the epidemic under control if it goes 10 more days without a new case.

- REUTERS

Sars tolls

Reported deaths, by country and worldwide:

China (mainland): 219. Hong Kong: 204. Singapore: 27. Canada: 23. Taiwan: 14. Vietnam: 5. Malaysia: 2. Philippines: 2. Thailand: 2.

Worldwide: 498

Reported cases of probable infections, by countries:

China (mainland): 4560. Hong Kong: 1654. Singapore: 204. Canada: 149. Taiwan: 125. Worldwide: More than 7300