SARS Killed 90 in 30 Countries

Hong Kong and Malaysia saw four more victims of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) on the 5th. As of Apr 6, 90 died of SARS in 30 countries around the world with 2,600 infected.

The Health Ministry of Hong Kong said on the 5th that three men died of SARS, pushing the number of the dead to 20. It added that about 800 SARS patients had been hospitalized with 39 newly infected.

The Health Agency in Malaysia confirmed that a 64-year-old man, who had traveled to China and Singapore last month, died of SARS, the first-ever case in the country.

A Shanghai government official said that George Bush, former US President cancelled the planned visit to Shanghai for the China-US Environmental Forum.

But he declined to confirm whether Mr. Bush cancelled his visit to China due to the travel warning on China and Hong Kong issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention of China said on the 6th that SARS has emerged every year. An official at the center said that SARS that had emerged so far had 17 types, but SARS this time was an unknown type.

Meanwhile, in Korea, the only place in Asia where no SARS case has been reported, health authorities have stepped up precautionary measures against the highly infectious disease.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) said that quarantine officials with doctor’s license have resided at the Incheon International Airport 24 hours a day, but it increased the number of quarantine officials so that they could work in shift. The NIH also said that it is deploying its officials to examine patients with SARS symptoms and take follow-up measures.

The state health agency also designated 11 hospitals to be used to quarantine suspected SARS patients and supplied 3,000 sanitary masks for employees at public health centers across the nation.

The NIH said that 18 people suspected of SARS have been found to have flu or tonsillitis.

Jung-Ahn Kim Jin Lee credo@donga.com leej@donga.com