After
admitting more than 700 confirmed or suspected Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) cases in Beijing Sunday, China's health
ministry increased the toll Monday as the orders for full disclosure
kicked in.
The
Chinese mainland reported the SARS death toll had risen to 92 Monday,
according to Ministry of Health figures, state media reported.
The
government said there were 13 more SARS deaths and 194 new cases of
the disease between April 19 and 21, Xinhua reported.
The
World Health Organization (WHO), citing Ministry of Health Statistics,
said 132 new cases around the country were reported from 11:00 pm
(1500 GMT) Sunday, bringing the national tally to 1,959.
They
included cases in four provinces - Zhejiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Gansu
-previously free of the killer disease. State media added another two
areas to the list - Shaanxi and Tianjin.
The
spread of the disease has fuelled concerns that SARS is gaining a
foothold in every corner of China.
WHO
virologist Jeff McFarland said that other regions in China could see
an outbreak similar to Beijing's where more than 400 are infected and
20 dead, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"It
should not be a shock of more new cases," he said, saying there
was nothing that would have necessarily prevented the virus from
spreading from southern Guangdong province where the epidemic was
first reported in November.
A
six-person team from the WHO arrived in Shanghai Monday to investigate
the extent of the outbreak in China's biggest city.
A
U.S.-based analyst said China's decision to cancel week-long May Day
holidays to keep people from traveling would have little effect since
the virus had probably already spread to all corners of the country.
"It's
too late, they can't put the genie back in the bottle," said
Andrew Thompson, an expert on Chinese health issues at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"It's
got to be everywhere by now, and if it isn't, it will soon be
there," he said.
China
earlier Monday formally sacked Beijing mayor Meng Xuenong, who had
been expected to lose his job after being stripped of his high-ranking
position in the ruling Communist Party Sunday.
Health
Minister Zhang Wenkang, who was also removed from party position at
the weekend, was also sacked as Health Minister.
Elsewhere
around the globe, the fatal epidemic continued to claim more lives.
In
Hong Kong,
six more people died
Monday, down from a daily record of 12 deaths announced Saturday,
taking the SARS death toll to 94, the government said.
Another
22 new cases were reported, with the number of cases reaching 1,402.
The
authorities do not include in their figures an American national who
was pronounced dead on arrival at a Hong Kong hospital after being
transferred from mainland China.
 |
|
In
Canada, too
|
However,
Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-Hwa expressed confidence that SARS
in the territory was gradually being contained.
"I
think we are slowly, but surely getting the figures stabilized,"
Tung said.
Hong
Kong underwent a massive clean-up at the weekend with government
officials and residents disinfecting parks, commercial buildings,
housing estates and polluted streets in a bid to wipe out the virus,
which has led most people to wear face masks in public.
The
latest figures pushed the global death toll to at least 217. More than
4,000 people are confirmed or suspected to have been infected by the
disease in around 30 countries since the crisis erupted.
In
addition to China and Hong Kong, deaths have been recorded in
Singapore (14), Canada (14), Vietnam (5), Thailand (2) and Malaysia
(1).
In
Washington, U.S. health authorities
said Monday that there are 38 probable cases of SARS in the United
States and 187 more are listed as suspected.
The
total number of 225 cases rose by five from Saturday's toll.
The
U.S. state of California has been worst hit, with 12 probable and 33
suspect cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
To
be listed as a "probable" SARS case, the patient must meet
three criteria: They must be suffering from pneumonia, they must be
showing SARS symptoms - such as high fever, dry cough and difficulty
breathing - and they must have traveled to, or been in contact with
someone who has traveled to, a high-risk area in the ten days prior to
falling ill.
"Suspected"
cases are those who meet the latter two criteria, but are not
suffering from full-blown pneumonia.
In
India, three more people had been diagnosed as suffering from SARS,
following the first confirmed case last week, the health minister of
Maharashtra state said Monday.
"Of
these three, one is completely confirmed as a SARS case, while in the
case of the other two, initial reports from laboratories show they are
also suffering from the disease," Digvijay Khanvilkar told AFP.
He
said the patient who has been confirmed as positive for SARS, Stanley
D'Souza, came to the western Indian city of Pune in Mahrashtra from
Jakarta three weeks ago.
D'Souza
developed the "symptoms in the last few days," the minister
said.
The
other two people exhibiting SARS symptoms are the man's mother and
sister, he added.
"They
have all been quarantined and moved into an isolation ward in Pune.
They all appear to be recovering," Khanvilkar said.
The
first confirmed patient in India suffering from SARS virus was a
32-year-old marine engineer from the western Indian city of Goa,
Prashant Vardhe, who was diagnosed last week.
However,
hospital officials said he had completely recovered after test results
conducted by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) confirmed he had
SARS.
India
has a billion-plus population, second only to China with 1.2 billion,
and limited resources to deal with any outbreak of the deadly SARS
virus.
In
Pyongyang, North Korea said Monday it
was stepping up measures to fight the deadly SARS virus, which has
badly hit Asia.
The
reclusive nation's state-run Korean Central News Agency said Pyongyang
was maintaining a "strict" quarantine at railway stations,
airports and sea harbors nationwide with medical staff and equipment
reinforcements to fight SARS virus.
The
country also reorganized its central and local "hygiene guiding
committees" to launch headquarters that will orchestrate the
anti-SARS campaign, the agency said.
