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Fewer infections { April 27 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2003/4/27/latest/11621HongKong&sec=latesthttp://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2003/4/27/latest/11621HongKong&sec=latest
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Hong Kong has 12 more SARS deaths, but fewer infections
HONG KONG (AP): Twelve more SARS patients have died in Hong Kong, matching the territory's previous one-day record, but health officials on Sunday reported just 16 new infections, the lowest total yet since the government began releasing daily statistics last month.
Health Director Dr. Margaret Chan said it was too soon to say whether Hong Kong is winning its fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome.
"The figures of infection have shown a slightly downward trend,'' Chan told a news conference. "But we dare not to make any predictions -- this disease has shown big fluctuations.''
Hong Kong police said earlier Sunday they were investigating an e-mail hoax that claimed the SARS virus had been found in the air filters of the territory's subway trains that carry millions of passengers a day.
"The allegation is absolutely without foundation,'' Mass Transit Rail Corp. operation director Phil Gaffney said in a statement. "The director of health has confirmed that no tests for SARS virus have been conducted in MTR trains.''
The MTR said it reported the e-mail on Friday. Police spokesman Ricky Chong said technology experts from the Commercial Crime Bureau were looking into the case, but no arrests have been made. Chong declined to say whether police had identified any suspects.
Some residents were frightened by a previous SARS Internet rumor, and rushed out to buy groceries and other provisions.
Using the Web-page design of a popular local newspaper, a 14-year-old boy allegedly created a fake story on April 1 that declared Hong Kong an "infected area.'' Police arrested the boy and the government quashed the rumor by sending out an unprecedented text message to all 6 million cell phones here, in addition to making statements to the news media.
The MTR trains normally carry 2.3 million passengers a day but the numbers have fallen by about 20 percent during the SARS crisis -- largely because of school closures and many people staying home to avoid the disease, MTR spokeswoman Catherine Sing said Sunday.
The hoax e-mail is not believed to have affected passenger numbers, Sing said.
SARS has sickened 1,543 people and killed 133 in Hong Kong, and local business has been badly hurt by the disease. The World Health Organization advised people earlier this month to stay away from Hong Kong and air traffic has plunged, with thousands of flights canceled.
The 12 deaths reported Sunday included seven people who had been suffering from other chronic illnesses. Of the four who were not, three were aged between 77 and 91. The other victim was a 56-year-old man with no history of bad diseases. Hong Kong had reported a record 12 deaths in one day on April 19.
Hong Kong officials reacted angrily Sunday to a 10-day mandatory quarantine imposed by Taiwan's government on all people arriving from areas hit hard by SARS.
"Hong Kong does not believe that this measure is necessary,'' Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam told a news conference. "We also believe it is not in the interest of facilitating economic, commercial, tourism and other exchanges between Hong Kong and Taiwan.''
Hong Kong asked Taiwan to reconsider, given that officials here are already screening all departing airline passengers by checking their temperatures.
SARS is believed to have originated in the neighboring Chinese province of Guangdong, and Hong Kong is now taking temperatures at random of people crossing the land border from the mainland city of Shenzhen.
No one has been detected with SARS, but three people found with fevers -- boys aged 5 and 11 and a 48-year-old man -- have been hospitalized for observation, Chan said.
In the neighboring gambling enclave of Macau, visitors and workers going into the famous Lisboa casino are now required to be checked for fever by hand-held infrared temperature machines. The temperature checks, put in place Saturday afternoon, found no one with a fever, according to the company run by tycoon Stanley Ho.
The former Portuguese colony has had only three suspected case of SARS, all of which tested negative, despite its proximity to Hong Kong, which is 65 kilometers (40 miles) to the east, and frequent visits by thousands of Hong Kong gamblers.
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