SARS virus expands throughout China
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
HARVEY STOCKWIN
TIMES NEWS NETWORK SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 2003 11:27:34 PM
HONG KONG: China contines to take drastic though belated action against the feared spread of the SARS virus in Beijing, but the greater danger of an epidemic may lie elsewhere as the SARS virus penetrates the rest of the nation.
The Chinese government is obviously trying to make up for the time lost during the 22 weeks when the authorities in effect condoned a cover-up regarding the growth of atypical pneumonia cases. The latest move in Beijing has been to order the indefinite closure of all places of entertainment in the capital.
This follows the complete isolation of three large city hospitals, the closure of all Beijing schools, and the enforced quarantine of 4,000 residents, all of which were ordered last week. The ban on all entertainment is comprehensive, applying to theatres, cinemas, libraries, karioke bars, Internet cafes, dance halls and video arcades. Marriage registrations are also suspended in order to stop large wedding parties being held.
The aim in all this is to prevent the close human contacts which spread the disease as a result of droplets ejected from one infected person through coughs or sneezes. So far, there is no evidence that the SARS virus can cause infection by merely being airborne.
The latest figures for Beijing indicate that there are 1,114 confirmed cases of SARS in the city, with 56 persons having died. Altogether 2,914 cases have now been recorded throughout China with 131 deaths. But this figure is complicated by the fact that 1,914 additional cases are reported as being "suspected".
However the most worrying statistics released in the last ten days, since the Chinese communist leadership ordered an end to the cover-up, indicate that the infectious SARS illness has now spread to 23 out of China's 31 provinces and municipalities.
The southern Guangdong province, adjacent to Hong Kong, remains the worst afflicted province (50 deaths) though Beijing has now overtaken it. But SARS is also taking hold in Shanxi province (173 cases -- 8 deaths) Inner Mongolia (70 -- 6) the city of Tianjin (21 -- 2) and Guangxi province (16 -- 3).
What arouses disquiet is the fact that no less than 17 provinces, from Xinjiang in the far west, to Fujian on the eastern coast, from Jilin in the north to Gansu in the south report single-digit SARS outbreaks.
This development could indicate that the disease was spreading slowly throughout mainland China. But it could also be a sign that some officials in the provinces are still finding it politically prudent to conduct a cover-up. In other words, while the still low figures may mean that the spread of the virus can still be contained, they could also indicate that the infection in some areas is already out of control.
Clearly indicating that the government is deeply concerned, newly appointed Minister for Health, Vice-Premier Wu Yi has ordered a fourth group of monitoring teams to go to the provinces to check on those which are reporting a few or no cases of SARS.
A grim calculation concerning the extent of China's SARS epidemic lies behind this move. Beijing's number of cases has jumped roughly 30 times in the last ten days, so the fear remains that the currently low numbers for some of those other provinces will escalate in the same way. |
