Posted on 04/03/2003 7:00:46 PM PST by blam
Emergency measures stepped up as virus deaths rise
By Leyla Linton
04 April 2003
Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada reported more deaths yesterday from a flu-like virus, which has infected more than 2,000 people and killed 80 around the world.
Nearly all the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) infections in Singapore have been traced to one woman who caught the virus at a hotel in Hong Kong.
Lim Hng Kiang, the Singapore Health Minister, described Esther Mok, who is still in hospital, as one of several "super infectors" of the disease. Her infection triggered a chain reaction that left 45 family members and 46 hospital workers ill, and killed her father.
The Singapore government reported the death of a 78-year-old woman yesterday, bringing the country's toll to five. Visitor arrivals fell by nearly 15 per cent in March compared with a year ago. The government blames Sars and the war in Iraq. Singapore Airlines, which has already cut 60 flights a week, is to hand out surgical masks to all passengers and crew on flights from China; Hong Kong; Taiwan; and Hanoi, Vietnam.
A French warship was turned away from Thailand because it had come from Singapore. One broadcaster in Singapore said it would stop filming in front of live audiences, and a zoo banned visitors from getting close to its orang-utans in case they infected the animals. All Singapore schools have been closed. Anyone who has travelled from an affected country is being screened.
Hong Kong, where 734 people have been infected, reported its 17th death from the disease yesterday. A British couple returning from Hong Kong were admitted to a hospital in Dundee after they fell ill with symptoms similar to those caused by Sars. Doctors later said they were unlikely to have the disease.
The virus killed a seventh person in Toronto, Canada's biggest city. The outbreakthere is the largest outside Asia, with 178 people in Canada considered probable or suspected cases. Most of the Canadian cases are in Toronto, Ontario the authorities have declared a health emergency in the province. Two hospitals linked to the latest death were closed to new patients, joining two others in the Toronto area.
Three Canadian children aged 18 months, three and six years were isolated in a hospital in Melbourne early today with one diagnosed as probably having the disease. They arrived in the country on Saturday from Toronto.
The American Association for Cancer Research cancelled its annual meeting, which was due to begin in Toronto tomorrow, because of the outbreak.
A World Health Organisation team arrived in Guangdong province in China to investigate the unidentified virus. Chris Powell, a team spokesman, said: "The number of cases is going down. There are still new cases, which is very sad."
An Australian woman was taken off a Qantas flight bound for Hong Kong late on Wednesday after other passengers and crew became worried that she might be infected. She fell ill during the first leg of the flight from Sydney to Melbourne and was advised to break her journey and leave the aircraft.
Qantas has told cabin crews to provide face masks to all passengers within six rows of anyone displaying the symptoms of the disease.
Run if you see her coming.
This is about as useful as screen doors on a submarine. Virus particles pass thru fabric with the utmost ease.
Wouldn't a good mask, properly sealed around the edges, block the inhaling of sneeze droplets?
This sounds somewhat like Goretex. Individual water molecules can pass through the openings in Goretex fabric, but the openings are too small for water droplets. (Was invented by Al Gore, I think.)
As someone pointed out, face masks limit contact of the hand with the nose and mouth, which can be very important in disease transmittal.
But if the virus is being transmitted hand to mouth, then yes, a mask does help to keep germs from the hands getting into the mouth and nose.
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