Posted on 04/30/2003 12:44:50 AM PDT by Tarsk
Edited on 04/29/2004 2:02:28 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
HONG KONG, China -- China's leader has called for unity in the fight against the deadly SARS virus, as Beijing's mayor says the situation "remains severe" in the capital.
"The entire society must be mobilized together, stay united, and act in unison," President Hu Jintao -- who is tackling his most serious crisis since assuming the presidency in March -- told a special session Politburo meeting.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Ain't that a really great name?
So, we're getting reports from the 21 hospitals in Beijing, but not the 200 others run by the military?
As of April 29, 1,347 SARS cases had been reported in Beijing. Some 152 cased were confirmed in the past 24 hours.
There is no secret plan to close off the city. Wang added that he learned the rumor from the Internet. As the official responsible for making decisions in the city, Wang Qishan denied that such plans exist.
Asked about a worst-case scenario, Wang said they are considering many options. "We are doing this despite the opinion of Chinese and foreign experts who rule out uncontrollable developments," he said.
Don't worry, "foreign experts" are certain "uncontrollable" developments will not happen.
Asked why the rate of SARS cases has remained higher in Beijing than throughout China, Wang replied that just 3,000 out of over 60,000 medical staff are trained to handle infections and respiratory diseases.
"We do not have enough nurses who can use artificial breathing tools and work in infection disease hospitals. Moreover, hospitals handling the disease don't have room for all the suspected cases," he said.
"Uncontrollable Events" are certain not to happen (foreign experts say), but they don't have room in their hospitals for all the suspected cases.
Agarwal added that the government is sending out 300 special masks to hospitals across the country where SARS has been reported. So far, the worst affected states are Maharashtra and Goa in western India and West Bengal in the east.
As of yesterday, at least one SARS designated hospital did not even have N95 masks, the minimum needed to protect against SARS. Is that what these are? If so, then India is toast.
Hmmm...
Maybe they didn't have enough advance notice?
LOL.
300? That looks wimpy comapred to Singapore who have ordered one million digital thermometers.
They're still not taking this seriously.
Trucks carrying supplies into the TAR are reportedly being stopped at the province's border. Goods like rice and other products, including foods that are not produced in the TAR and are normally transported by road from mainland China, are not reaching Lhasa anymore.
Does this mean Lhasa will start to run short on food? Especially in light of the internal travel restrictions mentioned below?
Notwithstanding official communiques identifying the danger of SARS as coming from outside the TAR, strong travel restrictions have been imposed within the province itself, nurturing perceptions that the authorities might fear panic and unrest in this potentially tense situation, as much as the spread of the disease. Roadblocks have been installed along the major roads in the TAR, preventing the flow of goods and people. It is, for instance, currently impossible to reach Lhasa from the eastern prefecture city of Chamdo.
Actions like this make we wonder about how things really are in China.
A restatement of the obvious. I remain hopeful that the communists have the ruthlessness they will need to stop this epidemic.
Hopefully the reports of people continuing to shed the virus after recovery were incorrect.
Eventually, somebody is going to fly to Nigeria and start it in Africa unless blacks are somehow miraculously immune to this. I think we've missed our chance to isolate it, and so hoping for a mutation might be the best possible outcome.
The one good thing about the Indian cases so far is that nobody has apparently died from it there. Maybe they have a weakened strain.
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