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Posted on 04/22/2003 7:40:52 AM PDT by InShanghai

3.15pm update

Staff and agencies
Tuesday April 22, 2003

A further 17 people across Asia died of severe acute respiratory syndrome today, as officials in China, which has been accused of underreporting cases of the flu-like virus, were ordered to step up efforts to fight the disease.

Eleven of today's Sars deaths came from China, where it is believed the deadly virus originated. Today, schoolchildren in Hong Kong returned to class wearing surgical masks, following a three-week closure in response to the outbreak.

Worldwide, the death toll rose to 235 and the number of infections topped 4,000. Malaysia announced its second death and Hong Kong, which has been hit worse than anywhere else, another five, pushing the Sars toll there to 99.

Canadian authorities said hundreds of people in Toronto might have been exposed to Sars by two hospital employees who ignored orders to stay at home after showing symptoms of the virus.

Asia's tourism industry suffered a new blow as Vietnam announced plans to close a popular attraction to Chinese visitors. Indonesia's national airline suspended flights to Taiwan because of a sharp drop in passenger numbers. Other carriers already have slashed flights.

Two days after cancelling China's week-long May Day holiday in an attempt to stop travellers from spreading the disease, the government restored some days off. But travel agents were barred from taking tour groups from one province to another.

In Hong Kong, about 200,000 secondary students from 400 schools were back in class today. Another 900,000 younger students are expected to return to school on Monday.

Students and teachers were required to wear masks. Some students were seen lining up outside schools to have their temperatures taken in a search for fevers - a Sars symptom.

In Beijing, where 28 people have died of the disease, the city's Communist party head, Liu Qi, reportedly told officials to step up the tracing of people who might have been exposed to the highly contagious illness, and to report promptly and accurately.

"Do a good job of analysing statistics, effectively control and cut off the source of infection," Chinese newspapers and the Xinhua News Agency quoted Mr Liu as saying.

Mr Liu's comments came after the health ministry announcement on Sunday that the number of infections in Beijing had surged nearly tenfold, from 37 to 339. In all, mainland China has now reported 2,158 Sars infections and 97 deaths.

Following criticism of the capital's handling of Sars by the world health organisation (WHO), Beijing's mayor, Meng Xuenong, was replaced by a former party boss of the southern island province of Hainan, reported Xinhua.

Health minister Zhang Wenkang was also sacked on Sunday from his party posts, although he has kept his cabinet position for the time being.

In a rare pointed comment, WHO said the action against Mr Meng and Mr Zhang showed Chinese leaders were "now taking seriously the need for transparency in Sars reporting". The UN agency's website said both men had "played down the seriousness of Sars".

Authorities in Canada, which has reported 14 deaths, said they were tightening hospital procedures and looking for people who might have been exposed by two health care workers.

One worker attended a funeral after being told to stay at home because of possible Sars symptoms.

Dr Hanif Kassam, medical officer of health for the York region north of Toronto, said he would ask police to force the unidentified man to comply with the quarantine if necessary.

"He was symptomatic before the attendance to the funeral home and ... potentially put many hundreds of people under risk," Dr Kassam said.

Malaysian authorities said the country's latest victim died this morning on the island of Penang. The 26-year-old tour operator fell ill after visiting China and Thailand.

In Vietnam, which has reported five deaths, tour operators at picturesque Ha Long Bay, near the border with China, have been told to stop accepting Chinese visitors, a provincial official said.

The suspension of flights to Taiwan by Garuda Indonesia came after the airline already had cut service by half to Hong Kong and Singapore, both badly affected by Sars. Garuda, which flies to Taipei three times a week, said the suspension would last until at least May 15.

Doctors in India today said authorities were treating Sars too lightly and warned the deadly flu-like disease could spread like wildfire among the country's 1 billion people.

A national association representing more than 150,000 doctors said health authorities were not taking adequate steps to spread awareness about the disease.

"The health authorities are taking Sars too casually. There has been virtually no public awareness campaign so far, nor any attempt to get the word out to doctors and the public," said Sanjiv Malik, secretary general of the Indian medical association.

Doctors noted the handling of two recent cases of Sars where the patients were allowed to leave hospital isolation wards before tests proved they had contracted the virus. India currently has four Sars cases.

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