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Thursday, May 22, 2003
WHO widens Taiwan advisory after fresh surge in Sars cases (9:41 am)
TAIPEI -- The World Health Organization (WHO) slapped a travel alert on all regions of Taiwan on Wednesday as the island reeled under a fresh surge in cases of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) virus.
The Geneva-based UN agency said it had extended its alert to include all of Taiwan and not just Taipei after warning the island had the world's most rapidly growing outbreak of the pneumonia-like respiratory illness.
"As a result of ongoing assessments as to the nature of outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), WHO is now recommending, as a measure of precaution, that people planning to travel to Taiwan province, China, consider postponing all but essential travel," a WHO statement said.
The UN health agency issued its travel advisory for Taiwan's main city of Taipei on May 8.
The island-wide warning came as health authorities in Taipei said a further 35 cases of Sars had been recorded, a third sharp rise in new cases in as many days.
Sars has left more than 670 people dead and infected around 8,000 in roughly 30 countries since it first appeared in southern China last November.
An estimated 90 percent of Taiwan's infections have occurred in hospitals, prompting more than 150 doctors and nurses to quit in protest and forcing several facilities to be sealed off.
Center for Disease Control director Su Ih-jen said the government would seek to check the spread of the virus in the south, where the situation appears to be deteriorating.
"We will send a team of specialists to help hospitals in the south build up systems monitoring Sars in their facilities," Su told reporters, warning of a possible "new wave of Sars attacks" in the region.
Taiwan's new health minister Chen Chien-jen said on the sidelines of the WHO annual assembly in Geneva that the island hoped to have Sars under control by the end of June.
"I would say that mid-June is an optimistic estimation, by the end of June the epidemic can be contained to a satisfactory level," Chen said shortly before the new WHO advisory was issued.
Chen said Taiwan had asked the WHO to send further experts to Taiwan and provide technical assistance.
The WHO said lapses in infection control in emergency rooms may have been a major reason for the rapid increase in Sars cases in Taiwan, particularly in hospitals.
While Taiwan's crisis showed no sign of abating, there were more encouraging statistics from China, Hong Kong and Canada, the worst affected country outside Asia.
China reported 12 more Sars cases and two new deaths, the lowest since the government admitted covering up the crisis a month ago, while Hong Kong had just one new case and two fatalities.
WHO officials gave a cautious welcome to the new figures.
"We continue to be encouraged by the downward trend in the numbers," WHO spokesman in Beijing Bob Dietz said.
"We remain wary, as does the government. The downward trend in a large part is because of the vigorous application of control measures being put in place by the government," he added.
Singapore, an early Sars hotspot and until last weekend a candidate for removal from the WHO's watchlist, suffered another setback when it recorded its 29th death.
The victim, a 28-year old woman who had been treated in hospital for a month, came days after the island state was denied removal from the WHO's Sars list when a last-minute infection was confirmed.
Health officials said the woman was most likely infected by contact with a 65-year-old vegetable seller, who died of Sars on April 12.
Canada reported two fewer active probable cases for a total of nine, the first time the caseload has dropped to single digits since the outbreak began in mid-March.
Hong Kong, which has seen its tourism industry devastated by the Sars crisis, is now hoping the WHO will lift a travel advisory issued against the territory on April 2.
Deputy Director of Health Leung Pak-yin said with the number of new cases falling, the city could meet the WHO's condition that there be fewer than 60 Sars patients receiving treatment in hospital in three weeks.
"With a daily average of less than three new cases, we can meet the WHO criteria in 21 days," Leung predicted. A total of 165 patients remain in hospital in Hong Kong, with 42 in intensive care.
The Philippines, meanwhile, was formally declared Sars-free by the WHO after registering a 20-day period with no new cases.
Asian economies have been ravaged by Sars, with losses forecast to run into billions of dollars and tourism, travel and aviation sectors hardest hit.
Malaysia on Wednesday unveiled a US$1.92 billion stimulus package to mitigate the impact of Sars. Hotels, taxis and restaurants would be given tax breaks while health workers would receive a monthly bonus.
Singapore, which has the fourth highest death toll from Sars worldwide with 28 fatalities out of 206 cases, revealed tourism arrivals had plunged 75 percent in the first 12 days of May.
Airlines have also suffered heavily from Sars, and there was more gloom for the aviation industry as China Eastern, one of China's major carriers, announced it was suffering record losses of US$2.4 million a day. AFP
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