Hong Kong announced six new severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) deaths yesterday, hours after the territory's leader expressed confidence in beating the disease.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) said the ruling party and his government were "giving top priority" to fighting SARS, newspapers said.
The gambling enclave of Macau, west of Hong Kong on China's southern coast, reported its first suspected case of SARS, which has killed at least 211 people worldwide. More than 3,800 people have been sickened.
Despite 25 deaths over the past three days, Hong Kong is planning to reopen schools closed since March 29. Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (
He said quarantine measures and efforts to find people who came into contact with those infected seem to be working, helping to identify 150 suspected SARS cases.
"The figures have stabilized," Tung told reporters, but he made no predictions about how long it would take to control the outbreak.
Hong Kong has suffered the heaviest impact, with 94 fatalities and nearly 1,400 people infected. Six deaths and 22 new cases were reported yesterday.
China is close behind with 79 deaths reported and more than 1,800 cases of infection.
News of the firing of Beijing Mayor Meng Xuenong, reported in state newspapers yesterday, came a day after he and China's health minister were dismissed from key Communist Party posts. That followed an announcement by the Health Ministry that the number of SARS cases in Beijing had jumped from 37 to 339.
China on Sunday joined other Asian governments in increasingly drastic efforts to stem the spread of SARS, calling off its weeklong May Day vacation in hopes of stopping tens of millions of Chinese from traveling. Singapore said all 2,400 employees at its main vegetable market will be quarantined after three people there fell ill.
China's new urgency about SARS comes after weeks of criticism at home and abroad of its slow response to pleas for information and cooperation in fighting the disease.
SARS dominated Chinese state media yesterday -- a striking change from weeks of limited coverage or outright silence. The popular Beijing Times tabloid devoted its first six pages to the disease -- news articles on the top and advertisements for disinfectant and medicines on the bottom.
The newspaper Health News said the government was putting 900 million yuan (US$109 million) into SARS prevention in poorer western regions of China.
In Hong Kong, the education secretary said schools would reopen in stages, with students wearing surgical masks to reduce the risk of contracting SARS. Schools were closed after some students fell ill, although experts say there is no sign that the virus was spread in classrooms.
Older students are to return to class today, while other schools reopen next Monday, said Education Secretary Dr. Arthur Li.
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