Creeping panic over epidemic

By STEVE CONNOR

Three hospitals in China are sealed off, officials in Toronto meet in emergency session and airline chiefs discuss the billion-dollar losses from the collapse of international travel - welcome to the first global epidemic of the 21st century.

Panic was spreading as fast as the virus responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) as Governments and health authorities struggled yesterday to contain public anxiety over a disease that has killed 264 people and infected 4600 worldwide since November.

In Britain, the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, resisted intense pressure to make Sars a notifiable disease alongside cholera and smallpox, a measure that allows health authorities to detain people suspected of being infected.

Sir Liam said that all six cases in Britain had been detected quickly and there was no need for further draconian measures.

British travellers returning to Heathrow, many of them still wearing masks, described "terrifying" panic caused by Sars in the Far East.

The World Health Organisation has warned travellers not to visit Beijing and Hong Kong, and the provinces of Guangdong and Shanxi in China where the virus is thought to have originated.

The travel advisory also covers Toronto, the only epicentre outside Asia, and its city officials reacted with horror as they witnessed a collapse in tourism confidence. Canada has 330 suspected or confirmed cases.

In China, which was criticised for not acting early enough on Sars, Government officials took dramatic action to impose rigorous quarantine conditions on suspected cases.

Police sealed off a 1200-bed hospital in Beijing where medical staff are being treated.

The hospital has at least 60 confirmed or suspected cases among nurses and doctors - a feature of the virus is its ability to strike those who care for infected people.

Two others Beijing hospitals are also sealed off.

In India, officials reported the first four cases and the Government ordered airport workers to wear face masks and to screen people entering international airports.

In Singapore, one of the first countries outside China to experience the disease, the toll rose to 17 deaths and two further suspected cases. Officials said yesterday that all visitors to the city state would have their temperature checked.

Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, said: "We have to muster all our resolve and resources in order to fight Sars. Then we can bring the outbreak under control, restore confidence and get the economy moving.

"If we fail to do so, and allow the disease to overwhelm us, the consequences will be catastrophic."

In Taiwan, a hospital was closed off in the capital, Taipei, after city officials said that a further 16 people may have become infected.

Hong Kong officials announced the quarantine net there was being widened to include people exposed or suspected of being infected, as well as confirmed cases. They also said that 30 more infections had been confirmed, taking the city's total to 1488.


- INDEPENDENT

Sars roundup:

* The Sars death toll stood at 265 people last night, with 4600 infected in 25 countries.

* The Philippines reported its first Sars death.

* Taiwan has quarantined more than 1000 doctors, nurses and patients at a Taipei hospital.

* Beijing officials sealed off a third hospital and ordered 4000 people to stay home. In Shanghai, special Sars inspection teams are checking vehicles at every highway tollgate, turning back vehicles from infected areas.



* Canadian officials loudly challenged a travel warning from WHO to avoid Toronto.