H.K. pneumonia scare hits airlines

H.K. pneumonia scare hits airlines

HONG KONG - International airlines felt the direct impact of a killer pneumonia outbreak after experts called for passenger screening and a Singaporean stewardess was hospitalized as a suspected case.


As the global death toll hit 54 with more than 1,400 cases recorded, more travellers were cancelling trips or being warned against travel to Asia, where the worst outbreaks have occurred in Hong Kong and southern China.


The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday recommended that countries most affected by the disease start screening international passengers at airports, but stopped short of calling for outright travel restrictions.


Fears of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an unusual form of pneumonia, have also begun to be felt in the exhibition industry, with foreign participants pulling out of an international bicycle trade fair in Taiwan.


Taiwan joined Singapore and Hong Kong in invoking quarantine laws, and in a further sign of creeping public panic, a bank in Singapore complained to financial authorities that one of its branches was hit by SARS rumors allegedly spread by a competitor.


In a new development the WHO confirmed four people were suffering from atypical pneumonia in Shanghai, the first time suspected SARS cases have been discovered in the eastern Chinese metropolis.


Share prices of Singapore Airlines (SIA), Cathay Pacific and Qantas, three of Asia's top carriers, took a hit Friday on fears that the SARS scare, in addition to the war in Iraq, would eat into their revenues.


The entire crew of SIA's flight SQ25 from New York to Frankfurt on March 14 has been grounded after three passengers fell ill with SARS.


A stewardess who had attended to a Singaporean doctor, his wife and mother-in-law -- later quarantined in Frankfurt -- is "currently being treated in hospital for SARS and is in a stable condition," an SIA spokesman said.
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Sherrie

 

So then Su...what is the prpose of being out of school. Well was any of your family hit by this?

Sherrie

 

Su and Ventin! I heard on the news it is getting worse and more have died.

What do you all hear?

Sherrie

 

Epidemic to hit growth: analysts

Jonathan Tam and Eli Lau

The pneumonia epidemic could not have come at a worse time for Hong Kong's fledgling economic recovery, with analysts saying it could trim up to 0.5 percentage points off this year's growth.

``If SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) cannot be brought under control quickly, the Hong Kong economy may be damaged,'' said ABN Amro Asian chief economist Eddie Wong, who has cut Hong Kong's economic growth forecast this year by 0.5 percentage points to 3.5 per cent, assuming the disease can be controlled in the next month.

Economists at Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan Chase said the epidemic would cut economic growth by between 0.2 to 0.5 percentage points - if the problem was short-term.

``The bigger potential problems are cutbacks in business travel, which would hit external trade, and the risk of the infection spreading to the industrial area in the Pearl River Delta,'' Wong said.

The rest of the article can be read at this web page:

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/thestandard/topstory.cfm


26 Filipinos in HK sealed

Posted: 0:13 AM (Manila Time) | Apr. 02, 2003
By Cookie Micaller, Contributor
Inquirer News Service

Public housing

HONG KONG -- The Philippine Consulate General said Tuesday it was checking the condition of at least 26 Filipinos who are living in the 33-story Amoy Gardens public housing, which was sealed on Monday in an unprecedented move by Hong Kong authorities to contain the spread of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that has downed 185 residents in the area.

The mysterious illness has now infected some 1,700 people in 15 countries and killed at least 62 people, 34 of them in China and 15 in Hong Kong.


More than 600 people have been infected in the former British territory.

Also Tuesday, Australia announced its first case -- a man who had been to Singapore where tough quarantine measures are now in place. He has recovered and the illness has not spread, health authorities said.

Struggling to contain the worldwide spread of the deadly flu-like illness, worried Asian governments have ordered tougher infection screening of air travelers and imposed other emergency measures.

Taiwan banned boats from sailing between an outlying island chain and mainland China.

In Canada, where a health emergency has been declared in Ontario province, Toronto authorities reported that at least two children had been hospitalized with the disease, and three others had symptoms.


The rest of the article can be read at this web page:

http://www.philnews.com/

It is certainly something for all of us to be worried about.

Sherrie

 

Yes Sharon (rainbow) you are so right. Pray for those families where their members are dieing of this sickness, and for those whose family members are already passed on, and pray for those weak in this sickness. We must stop it beforer it gets any further along. Pray Gods glory will shine above all this. For he is worthy of it all.

Virus Quarantines Flight From Tokyo
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

AN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- An American Airlines flight from Tokyo was quarantined on the tarmac at San Jose's airport Tuesday after four people on board complained of symptoms like those reported from the mysterious new illness spreading through Asia, airline and city health officials said.

Two passengers and two crew members complained of symptoms similar to those found in severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, according to city health officials.

Flight 128 from Tokyo to Mineta San Jose International Airport was stopped on the tarmac short of the gate, and ambulances lined up near the plane as the 125 passengers and 14 crew members waited on board.

American Airlines notified the airport that help was needed after "the captain was informed of a passenger needing medical assistance," said Todd Burke, a spokesman for the airline.

More than 1,600 cases of the illness have been reported so far worldwide, with at least 64 deaths. Officials say it's unclear whether exposure on a flight is sufficient to infect people.


For more of this story go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/01/health/01WIRE-ILLN.html

Sherrie