MONDAY, April 28, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- While the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak seems to be easing in a number of countries, it's still spreading in China and the government there is being forced to impose more tough restrictions aimed at confining the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says Vietnam, which has no new reported SARS victims, is the first country to contain SARS. And the situation seems to be improving in Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore as they report fewer cases of the highly infectious respiratory disease each day, the Associated Press reports.
On Monday, China reported eight new SARS deaths. There were five SARS deaths in Hong Kong and one in Singapore. The total number of SARS deaths worldwide stands at 333, with more than 5,000 people infected with the disease.
Most of the SARS deaths and cases have been in China and Hong Kong. As of Monday, there have been 140 SARS deaths in China and 3,106 of its people have been infected. The number of new confirmed cases rose by 203 from Sunday to Monday, the AP says.
In Hong Kong, there were 14 new cases reported Monday. That's the lowest increase in new cases since Hong Kong started releasing daily statistics last month.
The AP reports that Asian countries are using travel restrictions and quarantines to combat the spread of the disease. Taiwan imposed a 10-day quarantine for visitors traveling from areas that are SARS hotspots.
Chinese officials are using strict measures in their attempts to curb the spread of SARS. In Beijing, police are stopping cars to check people for symptoms of the disease. The city's cinemas, theatres, and other public entertainment outlets have been closed.
On Sunday, China closed its border with Nepal in an effort to prevent the disease from spreading to that small country.
The New York Times reports that the SARS outbreak is hammering the Chinese economy. Retail sales have plummeted, there's a weakened demand for some Chinese exports, and domestic and foreign tourism have evaporated.
The Chinese economy shriveled by an annual rate of 2 percent in the second quarter. In the first quarter of the year, before the SARS crisis, it was growing by an annual rate of 9.9 percent, J.P. Morgan Chase told The Times.
In Hong Kong, a team of WHO experts plans to investigate factors that may contribute to the possible environmental transmission of SARS. The team will study Hong Kong's sewage, ventilation and plumbing systems, along with its architecture and population distribution, Channel News Asia reports.
In Toronto, officials announced that a 21st person died of SARS on the weekend and as many as five other people remain in critical condition and may not survive, CBC News reports.
But public health experts there say the disease is under control and predict that the number of SARS cases will continue to drop. The last reported new case of SARS in the Toronto area was on April 9 and the total number of new or suspected cases has dropped to 267.
Toronto received some potential good news over the weekend, when the WHO said it would review a travel advisory recommending that people avoid non-essential travel to Toronto.
The WHO issued the travel advisory last Wednesday and originally said it would remain in place for 3 weeks. The move was loudly condemned in Toronto as being unnecessary and a serious threat to the city's economy.
While SARS hasn't had as large an impact in the United States as in some other countries, it's still causing ripples. A foreign tourist arriving in New York City earlier this month was involuntarily detained in a hospital for 10 days after arriving with suspected SARS symptoms, The New York Times reports.
It's only the second time in the last 25 years that the city's Health Department has exercised its power to involuntarily isolate a person for a disease other than tuberculosis.
While the U.S. seems to have dodged the SARS bullet, medical experts say the country shouldn't develop a false sense of security, The Washington Post reports.
Several top doctors say the U.S. has been lucky so far and it would be dangerous to assume that SARS won't strike the country in large numbers.
More Information
For more about SARS, visit the World Health
Organization or the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
