[_Jim]

where the local 'doctors' would have little way of really knowing what symptoms are SARS

What - these docs are missing their eyes and ears?

Or is your complaint more about the telecommunications facilities (leack thereof) in the areas away from the cities?

[Steel Wolf]

where the local 'doctors' would have little way of really knowing what symptoms are SARS

What - these docs are missing their eyes and ears?

Or is your complaint more about the telecommunications facilities (leack thereof) in the areas away from the cities?

A little of both. The doctors in rural China are not very well trained, in many cases not even at paramedic level. The level of technical training available is not very high, and the sheer numbers of people that they must provide for mean that the average level of coverage is very low.

Couple what with the fact that the PRC government is known to be less that forthcoming with all the facts and details about SARS. Lack of training, and lack of truth from the authorities, will likely leave many of the rural doctors overwhelmed and unaware.