SARS Thailand UPDATE

[george]

Nurse brigade at Bangkok airport

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - If their task wasn't so frightening, the scene might have been comic - battalions of Thai nurses in blue-and-white uniforms, masks hiding their faces, surging toward a weary queue of passengers who had just flown in from China.

As severe acute respiratory syndrome causes increasing alarm in Asia, Thailand's new rules, announced several days ago, are among the most stringent: Anyone arriving from an infected country must wear a mask for 14 days.

At Bangkok's Don Muang International Airport, though, reality is slightly different.

Passengers arriving from Beijing one night earlier this week were barely off the plane - a Boeing 777-200 staffed by a crew of masked flight attendants - when they turned a corner out of the jetway and walked straight into the teeming mass of medical staffers.

Some wore surgical-style coverings, others the more formidable masks that construction workers use to ward off dust. Still others had donned what appeared to be scaled-down gas masks for the occasion.

In Thai and English, they accosted all comers, checking quarantine cards that had already been filled out mid-flight and issuing laminated cards with instructions: If you notice anything from a fever to a cough to a sore throat or muscle pain, call a doctor. "You may," it says ominously, "have been exposed to an infection."

Neither severe acute respiratory syndrome nor its acronym, SARS, appears anywhere on the card.

After distributing the cards, the medical staff immediately deployed disposable thermometers that resembled strips of masking tape. In one motion, it was unwrapped and slapped onto various sweaty foreheads for a reading.

Those with any sign of fever were held for further questioning.

From there, arrivals were directed to one of two lines, much like customs. One was the clear line, whose occupants were waved through.

The others were directed to tables where more nurses - apparently randomly - calmly asked a series of questions.

"Where are you coming from? Have you felt bad at all? Do you know anyone who has felt bad?"

One nurse was asked if it was true that all arrivals from China had to wear surgical masks in the humid Thai heat for the duration of their stays.

"That is not necessary," she said. "Just in crowded areas. And you came from northern China, not southern China."

No masks? Are you sure?

"Do not worry."

And that was it - a flurry of activity, but no real delay.

Five minutes at the most, then on to immigration, baggage claim and more Thais in masks. But before it was over, the nurse said one more thing, difficult to hear through her mask. The second time, she said it a bit louder. "Welcome to Thailand," she said. "Enjoy your stay."

Source: AP

[george]

Singapore man flies solo after SARS scare

April 09 2003 at 02:27PM

Singapore - SilkAir flew home a Singaporean in an empty plane after he was turned back in Thailand on suspicion of being infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

But a battery of tests later showed the man was free of the virus.

A spokesperson for SilkAir, an affiliate of Singapore Airlines, said on Wednesday the man was running a temperature when he landed in the popular tourist resort of Chiang Mai.

"They had a doctor at Chiang Mai examine him and he said it was unlikely that he was having SARS. But the authorities did not allow him entry so it was the responsibility of the airline to bring the passenger back," she said.

'The plane returned to Singapore only with him'

Other passengers scheduled to return to Singapore that day were instead given one night's free accommodation in Chiang Mai, and flown the next morning by Thai Airways to Bangkok, and from there by Singapore Airlines to Singapore.

"The plane returned to Singapore only with him," she said.

The expensive false alarm highlights growing problems faced by travellers from countries afflicted by SARS, including Singapore and Hong Kong, because of tight border controls to stop the spread of the disease.

Thailand, one of the most popular holiday destinations in Asia, has declared that all tourists from countries hit hard by SARS must wear masks at all times or face a six-month jail term and fine.

Source: Reuters

[shabthai]

Hi

New SARS case in Thailand

now its 8 cases

http://www.who.int/csr/sarscountry/2003_04_12/en/

Gil  

[shabthai]

Hi

Also new cases in UK and US which are from

local chain of transmission . you can see from the link

at my last post

Gil  

[pnustedt]

HK y'day (Sun) 5 deaths - 4 of them under 52 with no other illness. 42 new cases.

Temperature checks at airport delayed.

[george]

Thailand safe from SARS

BANGKOK: Thailand has no local transmission of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, and is safe from SARS following its outbreak in some areas of the world. This is based on the follow-up report of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on SARS as of April 9, a press release said yesterday.

The Department of Disease Control said until now there is no evidence of SARS transmission in Thailand, it said.

The Department of Disease Control, the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand, has put several measures in place since early March, to prevent the deadly disease from spreading in the country, it said.

A special task force on SARS has been established and a network with all public and private hospitals has been set up in Bangkok and other provinces throughout the country, it said.

Additional preventive measures at Thailand's international airports have been duly applied to prevent the spread of the disease.

Report: SARS Likely Spread Through Sewage Pipes in Hard-Hit Hong Kong Apartments, Report Says

A SARS patient with diarrhea infected other people in a Hong Kong apartment complex as the disease apparently spread into homes through a sewage pipe linked to poorly sealed water drains, an official report said Thursday.

More people who came down with severe acute respiratory syndrome in Block E of the Amoy Gardens apartments also got diarrhea, creating huge amounts of contaminated feces that spread the virus through pipes in Hong Kong's biggest outbreak of the flu-like illness, said the health secretary, Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong.

Rats and cockroaches also may have spread SARS, but only incidentally after they picked it up around the apartments, Yeoh told a news conference.

"They were just passive, mechanical carriers," Yeoh said, adding that rats captured by the investigators did not come down with SARS symptoms.

There is no evidence of airborne transmission, Yeoh said.

At least 324 people were infected in Amoy Gardens, where SARS was also apparently spread through person-to-person contact and in common areas, such as elevators, lobbies and staircases, according to the report made by several Hong Kong government agencies.

The SARS outbreak in Amoy Gardens has been the most alarming in Hong Kong, where the disease has infected 1,297 people and killed at least 65. Four new deaths and 29 new cases were reported Thursday.

About 40 percent of the SARS cases in Amoy Gardens came from one building, called Block E, that was evacuated at one point with all of its residents moved into holiday camps that were turned into makeshift quarantine centers.

The disease was brought to Amoy Gardens by an infected man who visited his brother there on March 14 and March 19, Yeoh said. The outbreak peaked in Block E on March 24 and there was a lag of about three days later before it spread to residents of other blocks.

Yeoh said that once the virus got into the waste pipe in Block E, droplets that carried it apparently moved up through people's bathroom drains when U-shaped water seals dried out. Fans apparently helped suck the virus particles into homes, he said.

One resident of Block E told The Associated Press the report's findings sounded right and she called on officials to focus on calming the public and stopping the spread of SARS.

"We have long suspected it could be problems with the sewage system the apartments are so close together," said Anna Yuen, 45, who lives in Block E with her husband and three children.

"We were scared at first but after the isolation, we haven't seen any outbreak like what we had before," Yuen said by telephone. "I believe the situation has come under control."

But Yuen said she'd give the government's handling of the crisis just "70 marks out of 100."

"They have not been quick enough in calming the public," Yuen said.

The pneumonia-like illness has killed at least 166 people and infected about 1,300 worldwide. Mainland China has reported 65 deaths as has Hong Kong. Singapore has 15 SARS death, Canada 13, Vietnam five, Thailand two and Malaysia one.

Meanwhile, the world's second most populous nation reported its first SARS case on Thursday.

Authorities in India said a 32-year-old man in the western state of Goa contracted the disease after traveling to Hong Kong and Singapore, S.P. Agarwal, the government's director-general of health services, told a news conference.

Prashil Varde, an Indian marine engineer, returned home to Goa on April 3, he was treated by a private doctor for cough and fever, two of the symptoms of SARSe, said Dr. Shivlal, director of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases. He uses only one name.

The man and his wife, who has not tested positive for the virus, have been isolated, Agarwal said.

The World Health Organization has said scientists have confirmed the identity of the SARS virus, in a key step toward finding drugs to fight it.

In Singapore, airline passengers arriving from some SARS-stricken areas were being scanned for fever by military-grade equipment adapted for the war on SARS.

Those who show up on the camera screen as "hot bodies," or with a temperature greater than 99.5 degrees, will be pulled aside to have their temperature taken by a nurse, said Evelyn Ong, a spokeswoman at the Defense Science and Technology Agency.

In Beijing, universities said Thursday they have canceled activities and some classes to prevent the spread of SARS, breaking with earlier official insistence on continuing public events.

Source: ABC News

[george]

Bangkok reduces quarantine for returning residents

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand has reduced the quarantine period for Thai residents returning from SARS-affected areas to 10 days, from 14 required earlier.

The new period takes effect Friday, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan told reporters Thursday.

"We're reducing the number of days based on research of the World Health Organisation," she said, referring to findings that symptoms appear in humans in a maximum of 10 days after infection.

She said other measures to combat severe acute respiratory syndrome would remain unchanged, including medical checkups at all borders for those arriving from affected countries.

All travellers from affected countries will have to wear masks during their stay in Thailand, Sudarat said. Government officials including Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had last week suggested that masks were no longer necessary, but Sudarat said the SARS threat could not be taken lightly.

"The situation in neighbouring countries is still not much better. It continues to spread and kill people," Sudarat said. "We ask to keep these measures as they are."

She acknowledged that it was difficult to enforce the mask rule, and that the government can only hope visitors cooperate.

Public Health Ministry officials will meet with tourist companies on Monday to ask for more cooperation, such as reporting sick tourists and monitoring those from affected countries. Relatives and others who come in contact with suspected SARS victims will also continue to be monitored closely, she said.

Sudarat said 65,000 travellers from SARS-hit countries arrived at Bangkok's international airport from April 3-16. About 4,500 underwent medical checkups.

[george]

PM Thaksin declares Thailand free of SARS

Bangkok, Apr 19: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today declared Thailand free of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, saying the country does not have any suspected or confirmed patients in hospitals.

"We've controlled it very well and now we have no SARS patients in Thailand," Thaksin said in his weekly radio address to the nation.

He said that since the outbreak of the disease, seven people showing SARS symptoms had been hospitalized in Thailand. Two of the patients died - a World Health Organisation doctor who caught the virus in Vietnam and a Hong Kong resident who was visiting relatives here.

The remaining five patients were treated and discharged, Thaksin said.

The new flu-like disease has killed at least 173 people and sickened more than 3,000 worldwide, with most of the fatalities in China and Hong Kong.

Source: ZEE Bureau Report

[george]

12 in Hong Kong Die From SARS in One Day

By ALEXA OLESEN

SINGAPORE (AP) - Hong Kong reported Saturday a record 12 deaths in a single day from a deadly respiratory virus, and Singapore's leader warned the SARS outbreak could be the worst crisis the country has faced. China's premier issued a stern warning against covering up the disease.

Elsewhere, Vietnam was considering sealing its border with China, India confirmed its second case and authorities in Indonesia said a British man with severe acute respiratory syndrome had broken quarantine and fled the country.

In Hong Kong, health officials said seven of the 12 new fatalities were elderly people with other chronic illnesses. But the rest were younger, fitter patients, joining a group of SARS victims whose recent deaths have raised worries about how deadly the little-understood disease can be.

Thirty-one new patients were reported in Hong Kong on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the territory to 1,358. Another 41 patients were discharged from hospital after recovering from the disease.

The death toll stood at 81, health officials said.

Thousands of volunteers, from housewives to government officials, cleaned the territory's housing developments, restaurants and shopping malls on Saturday in a massive campaign aimed at slowing the outbreak.

About three dozen Americans have probable cases of SARS using the definition set by the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Of the 35 probable cases, 33 had traveled to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore or Hanoi.

"If we fail to contain SARS in Singapore it may well become the worst crisis that our country has faced," Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told a news conference Saturday.

The outbreak has dealt a heavy blow to the nation's economy, with Goh estimating it has cost the city-state $847 million so far.

"SARS will knock you backward, it may even kill you, but I can tell you SARS can kill the economy _ and all of us will be killed by the collapsing economy," he said.

Singapore also announced strict new measures to prevent people from flouting home quarantine orders, including fines and prison terms, beginning next week. Officials are already using cameras and electronic wrist tags to remotely monitor those under quarantine.

Singapore has reported 16 deaths and 172 cases of the pneumonia-like illness. Worldwide, the disease has killed at least 185 people and infected more than 3,000.

In China, official media reported Saturday that Premier Wen Jiabao had warned that "anyone who covers up SARS cases or delays the release of information will be harshly punished."

The warning echoed one by President Hu Jintao earlier in the week which urged "immediate action" to control the spread of SARS and cautioned against covering up the real number of cases.

The communist bureaucracy's secrecy and reluctance to publicize bad news have been blamed for China's slow response to pleas for information and cooperation in fighting SARS.

China reported another death on Saturday, bringing its total to 67 deaths from almost 1,500 reported cases.

Vietnam was considering closing its 830-mile northern border with China because of the SARS situation, state-controlled media reported. The move would temporarily halt all traffic between the two countries.

Travelers crossing into Vietnam from China are currently required to fill out a health form and are placed under quarantine if they show any signs of having SARS.

But officials fear that the high volume of traffic across the border makes it impossible for officials to carry out health checks properly.

Five medical workers have died of SARS in Vietnam, where more than 60 SARS cases have been reported since the outbreak began in late February.

In Indonesia, health officials announced that a 47-year-old British man suspected of being Indonesia's only SARS case had fled to Hong Kong.

The man was discharged from a hospital in Jakarta on Friday and told to stay home for two weeks, but fled almost immediately, officials said.

Meanwhile, a 42-year-old New Zealander admitted to a hospital in New Delhi this week has tested positive for SARS, making him India's second confirmed case, media reports said.

Air India decided to suspend flights to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia on Monday because the pilots' union fears the SARS virus, reports said.

But one country, Thailand, claimed it has successfully controlled the disease.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared Thailand free of SARS, saying it no longer has any suspected or confirmed patients in hospitals.

Since the outbreak of the disease, seven people with SARS symptoms have been hospitalized in Thailand. Two died: a World Health Organization doctor who caught the virus in Vietnam and a Hong Kong resident who was visiting relatives in Thailand.

The remaining five patients were treated and discharged, Thaksin said.

[george]

SARS China Deaths Rise; Beijing Mayor Fired

Thailand still only two deaths - country safe

The mayor of Beijing was fired following the disclosure of a steep increase in SARS cases in China's capital and charges he mishandled the outbreak of the deadly illness, state-run media said Monday.

The dismissal of Mayor Meng Xuenong came shortly after he and China's health minister were removed from key Communist Party posts, and the Health Ministry announced that the number of cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Beijing had jumped from 37 to 339. The number rose to 448 later Monday.

Thirteen more deaths were reported Monday in China _ seven on the mainland and six in Hong Kong.

A Beijing city government spokesman, Liu Wei, declined to confirm the firing of the mayor, who was appointed three months ago.

But detailed accounts in state-run newspapers said senior party officials accused Meng of failing to gather information on SARS, track new infections and trace people who might have been exposed.

The flu-like SARS has sickened more than 3,900 people and killed at least 218 others around the world, according to health officials in the affected countries.

The illness has killed at least 94 people and infected more than 1,400 in Hong Kong, while mainland China has reported 86 deaths and more than 1,900 people infected nationwide. Singapore and Canada have also been hard hit by the virus.

Governments in Asia are adopting increasingly drastic efforts to stem the spread of SARS.

China called off its weeklong May Day vacation in hopes of stopping tens of millions of people from traveling and spreading the virus.

Singapore announced that all 2,400 employees of a vegetable market are under quarantine after a co-worker fell ill. Border officials turned back five trucks full of fruit and vegetables from Malaysia, saying the drivers recently went to the Singapore market.

Singapore reported six new cases Monday, including three children under 9 whose grandfather works at the market. Those raised the total number reported here to 184 _ with 16 deaths.

The city-state also urged its lawmakers to take their temperatures before each sitting of parliament and to excuse themselves if they have a fever or if they have been exposed to SARS.

"As leaders, we will have to be responsible for our own actions and contribute to the national effort to fight SARS," the speaker of the house, Abdullah Tarmugi, said in a statement.

Singapore Airlines' regional Asian carrier SilkAir announced it will suspend some flights to Indonesia, China and Thailand in May because of the impact of SARS. The changes would result in 35 fewer flights per week, or a drop of 24 percent of capacity.

Hong Kong reported six more SARS deaths Monday, but Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said efforts to contain the spread by quarantining households of victims and tracking down potential contacts are paying off.

An additional 150 suspected SARS cases have been identified through stepped-up measures to find people exposed to the disease. Those people have been able to get early treatment _ which Hong Kong doctors fighting SARS say is crucial.

"The figures are stabilized," Tung told reporters. "I think we are making good progress."

Some Hong Kong students prepared to go back to class on Tuesday _ wearing surgical masks to reduce the risk of spreading SARS _ but about 10 schools refused to reopen after being closed last month as a precaution.

Canada reported its 14th death from SARS as a major Toronto hospital closed its critical care and other units after staff members began to show symptoms.

Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, which has Canada's largest trauma unit, closed its critical care, cardiovascular intensive care and SARS units Saturday. Officials believe staff members were exposed to the virus a week ago while treating a patient.

The closing will place a "huge burden" on Toronto's health care system, said the hospital's president and chief executive, Leo Steven.

The gambling enclave of Macau, on China's southern coast, reported its first suspected case. The victim, a 38-year-old saleswoman, was placed in quarantine after showing symptoms that include cough and fever, officials said.

China's dismissal of the Beijing mayor and its new sense of urgency about SARS comes after weeks of criticism at home and abroad of its slow response to pleas for information and cooperation in fighting the disease.

Meng was replaced "in order to improve the Beijing region's handling of SARS prevention work and ensure overall stability in the capital," the newspaper Beijing Youth Daily quoted He Guoqiang, chief of the party organization department, as saying.

Meng was dismissed Sunday as deputy party chief for Beijing _ a more important post than mayor.

Also Sunday, Health Minister Zhang Wenkang was dismissed as head of the party health committee _ a key policymaking body on medicine and public health. Zhang's ministry refused Monday to say whether he also was dismissed as minister.

Sourec: AP, Monday, Apr. 21, 2003

[fester]

S'pore, Malaysia may install thermal sensors at all checkpoints

Camera that detects body temperature may be placed at land and sea checkpoints, including the Causeway and Second Link, to tackle Sars

By Leslie Lau

SINGAPORE and Malaysia are considering installing thermal imaging cameras - currently on trial at the Republic's airport - at their land and sea checkpoints as part of procedures by both sides to tackle the Sars outbreak.

Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority commissioner Lock Wai Han said screening with cameras, which can detect body temperature, could be put in place at all checkpoints including the Causeway and Second Link.

Malaysian officials said the government could decide by tomorrow whether to install such cameras at major checkpoints.

Mr Lock said yesterday that Singapore was considering health declaration cards for visitors to fill in before entering the country.

Malaysia already requires travellers from Sars-affected areas to fill in a declaration card on arrival.

Mr Lock was speaking in Johor Baru yesterday after a meeting on the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) between officials from Singapore and Malaysia.

The meeting stemmed from a decision made by the two governments last week for closer cooperation in dealing with the threat posed by the outbreak.

Among the decisions taken was that both sides should formalise medical procedures to screen for Sars at the Causeway and Second Link.

Malaysian Health Ministry director for disease control Shafie Ooyub said both sides would standardise procedures for health checks at these border checkpoints.

The meeting also proposed that the health ministries promptly share personal information, travel history, hospitalisation details and contact lists of all probable and suspected Sars cases that travelled through either country.

Further meetings among officials are planned some time after next week's Asean leaders' meeting on Sars in Thailand.

Acting Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who confirmed he would attend the April 29 Bangkok meeting, said that Malaysia had already spent RM30 million (S$13.9 million) in tackling the Sars outbreak.

The government would also announce a stimulus package soon to help industries hit by the virus.

Only six Sars cases have been reported, with just one death. But Malaysia is anxious to ensure there is no local transmission of the bug.

Health Minister Chua Jui Meng said funds had been used thus far to buy additional medical equipment and to set up Sars isolation wards throughout the country.

He said the uncertainty of the disease could mean Malaysia would have to spend even more to tackle the outbreak.

-- Straits Times 2003-04-22

[fester]

Beijing's Mayor Ousted Amid SARS Questions

Chinese Government Declares SARS Top Priority

China's state-run newspapers say Beijing's mayor has been fired after questions about the government's handling of the rise of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Over the weekend, the mayor and the health minister were removed from key posts in the ruling Communist Party.

One newspaper reported that the decisions came at a meeting where the party's top personnel official said Beijing's slow response let the flulike illness spread.

China reported a nearly 10-fold increase in SARS cases in Beijing Sunday, from 37 to 346. Across China, 79 people have died and more than 1,800 cases have been reported.

After weeks of global criticism that the government reacted too slowly to the mysterious, deadly outbreak, Chinese leaders have declared fighting SARS a national priority.

But the disease is continuing its spread through the country.

The state-run news agency says a poor, isolated northwest province has reported its first two cases of SARS. Both patients reportedly caught the disease while traveling outside the region.

The news agency also says a province in the southeast and one in the northeast each has three reported cases, while another northeast province has one.

It's the first reported infections for the three areas. SARS is front-page news in every major Chinese newspaper Monday, and also dominated the national midday news on state TV. It's a dramatic change from weeks of limited coverage -- or outright silence -- by China's state-run media.

A popular tabloid The Beijing Times devoted its first six pages to the respiratory sickness. It had news articles on the top and ads for disinfectant and medicines on the bottom.

Meanwhile, a major SARS quarantine is to take place in Singapore. Officials are preparing to quarantine all 2,400 workers at Singapore's biggest wholesale vegetable market. Three people there were stricken by SARS. And a regional airline has suspended some flights to India, China, and Thailand.

Even lawmakers in Singapore are being requested to take their temperatures before each sitting of parliament.

The gambling enclave of Macau is reporting its first suspected SARS case. It neighbors Hong Kong, which has been severely hit by the disease.

Canada has reported its 14th death from SARS, and a major Toronto hospital has closed its critical care and other units after staff members started to show symptoms.

While Vietnam officials haven't reported a new SARS case in more than a week, the country's government is considering closing its land border with China in an attempt to prevent importing more cases.

As of Saturday, the World Health Organization reported more than 3,500 illnesses and 180 deaths worldwide due to SARS.

Hong Kong Reports More Deaths

Hong Kong's government says the SARS virus has claimed six more lives. That increases the total number of deaths in Hong Kong to 94.

The oldest of the most recent victims was 79, and the youngest was 48. All are said to have suffered from chronic illnesses.

But increased screening efforts for SARS in Hong Kong are reportedly paying off.

Hong Kong's government leader said quarantining households of victims and tracking down potential contacts is helping find more suspected cases. He said that, in turn, is leading to earlier treatments, which doctors say is critical in beating the illness.

With the stepped-up measures, Hong Kong has reportedly identified 150 suspected cases.

The chief executive wouldn't take questions from reporters and made no predictions about how soon the flulike illness may be controlled.

Critics have accused the territory of being too slow in efforts to fight the disease.

Some Hong Kong students are preparing to go back to school Tuesday, wearing surgical masks to reduce the risk of spreading SARS. But about 10 schools are refusing to reopen.

Hong Kong closed all schools March 29 after some students came down with SARS, but there is no evidence it was spread in classrooms.

Hong Kong's education secretary said the number of students infected jumped from 12 to more than 60 while schools were closed, so the infection was apparently spread by relatives or health care workers, and not in the classroom.

Source:  VRAL.com

[fester]

Emergency package of B3bn not enough, say Thai travel companies

Calls for tax breaks and heavy discounts across the board

BANGKOK: The assistance the government has pledged to the Thai travel industry, hard hit by the Sars outbreak, will not enable many members to survive during the next six months - a period industry leaders say will determine their fates.

Five travel-related groups said the ``emergency package'' credit line of three billion baht pledged yesterday by the SME Development Bank was not sufficient and additional aid in the form of financial support, tax breaks and other incentives would be needed.

Outbound travel agencies have seen 95% of their bookings cancelled, inbound tourist numbers are down 50% and domestic travel is off 40-50% since public alarm began to ring over Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus.

The damage to the industry so far has been estimated at 40 billion baht, and many of the 3,000-plus member companies in the associations face the risk of collapse.

``We hope this is [just] the first measure and we expect more to be introduced by the government,'' said Suparerk Soorangura, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA).

``In addition to loans to be used as working capital, we need to cut expenses and need the government's support by considering a reduction of value-added tax.''

``[The SME bank package] is a good start and would be a pilot project to help the tourism industry, which had earlier lost hope of survival due to several negative conditions,'' added Charoen Wanggananont, president of the Association of Domestic Travel.

Suwanna Dejrungruang of the Thai Hotels Association said its members had lost more than they could possibly obtain in funds from the state bank, as 50-60% of their room bookings had disappeared.

``We will ask for more from Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak,'' she said.

Dr Somkid yesterday told tourism-related agencies to come up with a ``super attractive campaign'' _ including heavy discounts _ to stimulate domestic travel.

He told operators including Thai Airways International to cut prices by up to 70% for local travellers.

However, THAI president Kanok Abhiradee said that although the airline was willing to participate in a campaign, fares should not be undervalued too much. He suggested that a combined package should be designed with all operators.

``The package should be a combination of discounts from each operator who should give as much of a discount as it could,'' he said.

Operators will reveal details of the promotion at the Consumer Fair, which will be held from May 1-4. Hotels are expected to offer 70% discounts, airlines 25%, train services 50% and tour packages 50%.

Under an agreement signed yesterday, the SME Development Bank would lend between 500,000 baht and three million baht to each tourism-related company requiring assistance. The loans must be repaid within two years and carry a 6% interest rate, slightly below market levels.

Sars has killed more than 200 people and infected more than 4,500 others, mostly in Asia.

Manus Pipathananunth, president of the Thai Travel Agents Association, said at least 10% of its 536 members were on the verge of closure, based on the assumption that almost all of their income could disappear in the next five months.

``The current situation is the worst we have faced. It is as severe as a combination of what we felt from the first Gulf War, the 1997 baht depreciation and the [2001 and 2002] terrorist attacks [in the US and Bali],'' Mr Manus said.

In another development, reservations specialist Thai-Amadeus Southeast Asia Co said it had joined with THAI and Krung Thai Bank in a programme to provide financial support to travel agents.

Agents using the Amadeus system would be eligible for an unlimited amount of preferential SME (small- and medium-sized enterprises) loans to ease cash-flow problems, it said.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has forecast foreign tourist arrivals to fall by about 25% in the second quarter from a year earlier, due to the Sars outbreak. Expected arrivals for the full year could drop to 10.56 million. The TAT had previously estimated arrivals would grow to 11.7 million this year from 10.8 million last year.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Suchart Jaovisidha said the government would have to revise the country's economic growth rate in the second quarter if no measure was found to curb the Sars outbreak, given the large number of tourist arrivals to the region and Thailand in particular.

The ministry has already estimated that the Sars epidemic could knock 0.3 points off a full-year growth rate projected earlier at 5.1%.

``However, we expect that the impact of Sars could not dampen the economy by more than 1%,'' Mr Suchart said yesterday.

Source: Bangkok Post

[george]

WHO Warns Against Travel to Toronto, Beijing, Shanxi

LONDON  — People should postpone unnecessary travel to Toronto, Beijing and China's Shanxi province because of the danger of SARS, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

It was the global health agency's latest move to stem the worldwide spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome. The organization previously warned against such travel to Hong Kong and the Chinese province of Guangdong.

"Today, we're recommending that people who have unnecessary travel to Shanxi, to Beijing and to Toronto postpone that travel if possible because, as was the case for Hong Kong and Guangdong, these areas now have quite a high magnitude of disease, a great risk of transmission locally -- outside of the usual health workers -- and also they've been exporting cases to other countries," said Dr. David Heymann, WHO's communicable diseases chief.

The travel warning will be active for at least three weeks -- double the maximum incubation period for SARS, he said.

Heymann said one other country, which he did not name, may be added to the list by Monday.

The tightening of international travel marks the first time a location outside of Asia has been targeted. Toronto, the first place outside Asia that the disease was detected, has always been a special concern to health officials because of its continued spread in the community despite tough measures.

At least 14 people have died there.

"Toronto last week had an exportation which set up a cluster of five cases in health workers in another country. This is what called it again to our attention," Heymann said from Thailand.

He would not say where the disease had spread to from the Canadian city or the two locations in China. Toronto has reported 136 SARS cases, while Beijing has reported 482 cases. In Shanxi, just to the west of the capital, 120 people have been reported ill.

Heymann said it is unclear whether the tough measures around the world will prevent the disease from becoming a permanent fixture.

"The jury is still out on that," he said. "We're working very hard to make sure that doesn't occur."

SARS has sickened more than 4,000 people worldwide and killed at least 251. On Wednesday, China announced nine new fatalities -- seven of them in Beijing -- raising the mainland's SARS death toll to 106. Hong Kong's toll rose to 105 with six new deaths.

Travel and tourism in the region have been devastated, particularly in Hong Kong.

WHO imposed a travel warning against the former British colony April 2 after a disturbingly virulent outbreak in an apartment complex, the Amoy Gardens. More than 300 residents were infected and 14 have died.

Health experts are still analyzing the situation in Hong Kong and Guangdong.

"The problem with Hong Kong is they still have this non-clear means of transmission and they still have so many cases that it would make it hard for them to come off the list, even if their exportation risks were minimal," Heymann said.

A Hong Kong government report last week said sewage leaks, personal contact and other factors, including rats and roaches that picked up the SARS virus on their bodies, may have caused the spread, but WHO is not fully convinced, and plans to conduct its own investigation.

WHO wants a "complete and satisfactory understanding" of what happened at Amoy Gardens, as well as evidence a repeat is unlikely before the travel advisory is lifted, spokesman Peter Cordingley said from the agency's regional office in Manila.

Heymann said his team in China believes there are probably more cases in Shanghai than have been reported.

FOX News 2003-04-23

[george]

SARS: Phuket hotel staff stay home

PHUKET: Declining tourist arrivals has led one group of Phuket hotels to impose five days of unpaid leave a month on staff and others may follow suit, the chairman of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce said yesterday.

Pamuk Achariyachai, who is also owner of the Kata Beach Resort, Karon Beach Resort and Karon Inn, said his hotels would enforce the move from the beginning of next month.

"It's a cost-cutting measure," he said.

Pamuk said other hotels also planned to enforce similar measures in the face of low occupancy rates brought about by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), which has caused the number of tourist arrivals from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia to plummet.

"Phuket tourism has never been hurt this badly before," he said, adding that Phuket's hotel occupancy rate had fallen to an average of 25 per cent.

Pamuk said the forced leave without pay measure would last for many months, and added that it could also increase to 10 or even 15 days a month if hotels still failed to attract guests.

He said his employees understood the situation and had agreed to co-operate.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Mae Ping Hotel in Chiang Mai said yesterday that it had already laid off 10 per cent of its temporary workers and stopped recruiting new employees in a bid to cut operating costs.

"[The measures] are the consequences of Sars," the hotel's general manager, Woraphong Moochaotai, who is also chairman of the Northern Hotel Association, said.

Wiworn Phaphum, general manager at Lotus Pang Suan Kaew Hotel in Chiang Mai, said his hotel had resolved not to recruit new employees even for posts left vacant by those who resigned.

A source said many other hotels in Chiang Mai, such as The Empress and Westin, also planned to cut staff and impose forced unpaid leave.

"The hotel employees might be required to work only a half month and get half of their usual salary," the source said.

Source: The Nation 2003-04-24

[fester]

SARS - Billion cases in 60 weeks

Sars 'has potential to be more serious than Aids'

A UK medical expert has warned the Sars virus has the potential to be more devastating than the Aids epidemic.

Dr Patrick Dixon said it was not inevitable, but there was a 25% chance of a global Sars pandemic.

Dr Dixon, who is an expert on Aids and considered Europe's leading futurist, predicting global trends, said the crisis needed to be taken out of the hands of health chiefs and handled by world leaders.

He said: "This is not a yuppie disease contracted by air travellers.

That is a pathetic reaction that will put the whole world at risk. It is worth remembering that Aids has infected 80 million people so far over a 15 to 20 year period.

"Aids spreads slowly so we can track it and plan for it. We have effective anti-viral drugs which can prolong life. But this is different, we don't have the time. This is a far more serious epidemic potentially than Aids."

Dr Dixon said his main concern was not the number of infections in Beijing, but rural, isolated areas in China and around the world.

He said: "China has draconian measures in place in a bid to contain the virus, but in a country like India which is chaotic with minimum health provision, the potential for spreading the virus is huge."

Dr Dixon, a fellow at the Centre for Management Development at London Business School, said if current trends continued there could be a billion cases within 60 weeks. He has called on world leaders to address the problem as a matter of national security.

He added: "Unless the virus spontaneously mutates into a less dangerous form, the only hope we have is to mount an immediate aggressive global response at the highest levels against Sars, something we've not yet seen.

"If things continue as they are, with a mixture of denial, confusion, delay, ignorance, bad decisions, poor data gathering, official decision-making paralysis, incompetence, concealment, secrecy and government apathy in some parts of the world, then a pandemic is surely only a matter of time."

[george]

Thailand seeks regional departure hall SARS checks

BANGKOK, April 24 (Reuters) - Thailand said on Thursday a plan for SARS-affected countries to screen departing passengers will be proposed at a regional health ministers' meeting this week. "We must stop the cause of the problem at the origin," Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said in a statement.

Health ministers from the 10 Association of South East Asian Nations are due to meet in Malaysia on Friday and Saturday to discuss boosting cooperation in the fight against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that has killed 254 people worldwide.

The brief medical checkup would be similar to that given to arriving passengers at airports, including taking temperatures.

Decisions made by health ministers at the Malaysia meeting will be passed to heads of state from Southeast Asia for adoption at a summit in Bangkok on April 29.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

[singa-traz]

What's the latest status for Visitor from Singapore ?

- Still required to wear a mask ?

- What about Thai ? Have to Stay Home ?

... Singapore-Bangkok for 200 S$ is cheap on SQ, but ...

Thx

[alana]

Thailand has been marked safe for travel, yet on on April 29th CNN has a "Country breakdown: Probable cases of SARS has Thailand at 7 cases reported and 2 deaths (Source is from the World Health organization, Hong Kong Department of Health, China Ministry of Health, Health Canada, and Singapore Ministry of Health statistic).

How can Thailand say they have no cases to report on the Thailand site, that Thailand is safe?

My daughters father has just gone to Thailand, but he neglects to tell us until he has already been there for a week! Would I be wrong to require a doctors letter to allow my daughter to see her father when he returns?

[pnustedt]

If "when he returns" is returning to Canada you are not justified. He is safer in Thailand.