The global toll from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) climbed above 500 dead and 7,000 infected yesterday as China described its crisis as "grim" and announced that 120 bureaucrats had been fired or punished for mishandling or even concealing cases of the disease.
In one province, Communist Party members have been told to revive the ancient custom of bowing instead of shaking hands to prevent disease transmission.
"The current SARS situation is still grim, and the economic impact is more pronounced each day," the official Xinhua News Agency said in its report of a Chinese Cabinet meeting that ordered measures to protect exports and investments.
Li Kui-wai, an economist at the City University of Hong Kong, predicted China's gross domestic product could fall by 1 percent to 2 percent due to SARS.
In Moscow, Russian officials ordered airlines to suspend reservations on flights to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan because of SARS and to be prepared to cancel all flights.
China announced five more SARS fatalities and Hong Kong four, raising the global number of deaths to at least 507 yesterday.
SARS has killed 208 people in Hong Kong and 224 in China -- half in Beijing.
In Hong Kong a 100-year-old woman was among the new victims. One of the Chinese victims was from Shanghai -- the first reported SARS fatality in the nation's most populous city.
So far, SARS has mostly been an urban disease. But authorities fear it might spread into the countryside, where the majority of China's 1.3 billion people live amid a shortage of doctors and hospitals unable to cope with epidemics.
WHO investigators were due yesterday to go to Hebei, a province bordering Beijing and where there has been a marked surge in cases.
A new unidentified pneumonia has appeared in the jungles of Cambodia. An outbreak has been controlled, but seven people have died. Doctors say they are baffled by it, just like they were initially by SARS.
SARS first surfaced as a mystery illness in southern China last November, when it was described only as an atypical pneumonia.
The new illness has SARS-like symptoms including fever, coughing and breathing problems, but sufferers also have diarrhea and maintain normal white blood cell counts.
SARS has taken the lives of many health professionals. Doctors and nurses working in SARS wards across Asia are being hailed as heroes who put their own lives at risk to save others.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old