Hong Kong took drastic measures yesterday to combat a killer pneumonia as nearly 100 more cases were reported in the territory amid growing disruption to travel and business across Asia.
The increasingly fraught battle to contain severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) came as the US authorities warned the virus could be more contagious than first thought and advised against travel to parts of Asia.
The mysterious illness has now infected more than 1,700 people in 15 countries and killed at least 59 people. It erupted in southern China, spread to Hong Kong and has been taken worldwide by airline passengers.
Shocked by an eruption of cases at the Amoy Gardens estate in Kowloon district, the Hong Kong authorities took the unprecedented measure of ordering the complete isolation of the housing block.
A total of 213 cases have been diagnosed at the estate, including 92 new cases overnight, Health Secretary Yeoh Eng-kiong told reporters yesterday.
"We have been very alarmed at the outbreak in this particular housing estate," Yeoh said, adding the order was enforced by police.
During the isolation period, no one will be allowed to enter or leave the estate without permission in writing of a health officer. Medical personnel will visit residents, who will be given three meals a day free of charge.
The respiratory illness has now killed 13 people and infected nearly 630 others in Hong Kong.
Yeoh said the possibility of a newly mutated form of the virus that could undergo airborne transmission or survive extended periods of time on open surfaces could not be ruled out.
The SARS outbreak has already left a trail of empty restaurants and shopping malls. The streets of the former British colony are noticeably quiet, and many of those venturing outside are wearing masks.
A quarantine law invoked as part of tougher measures to contain the illness, which included the closure of all schools until Sunday, also took effect yesterday as fears grew about the impact on the local economy.
Dutch banking group ABN Amro yesterday cut its GDP forecast for Hong Kong this year by 0.5 percentage points to 3.5 percent.
The outbreak is also starting to impact on airlines which have begun rearranging schedules as demand for tickets to areas such as China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam plunges.
Hong Kong-based Dragonair said yesterday it had cancelled 10 flights to China and Taiwan because of a drop in bookings, and other local carrier Cathay Pacific said it would also soon announce cancellations.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS