0
HONG KONG, April 13: The worldwide death toll from the SARS virus climbed to 131 on Sunday as the fall-out from the epidemic caused growing disruption to key east Asian economies.
As new deaths from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) over the weekend were reported in Canada, Hong Kong, China and Vietnam, scientists said they had made progress towards developing a diagnostic test — and perhaps ultimately a cure — for the illness.
Hong Kong reported five more SARS deaths Sunday, bringing the total number of dead in the territory to 41. That figure includes an American national who was pronounced dead on arrival at a Hong Kong hospital Wednesday after being transferred from mainland China.
But China, to where Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has postponed a visit due from April 23 because of SARS, remains the hardest hit, reporting two new fatalities Saturday for a total of 60 dead.
Canada, which reported three new deaths over the weekend, now has a total of 13 fatalities. Singapore has reported nine deaths, with five in Vietnam, two in Thailand and one in Malaysia.
More than 3,200 SARS cases have been reported world-wide.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong reported a sharp jump in deaths from the SARS virus on Sunday as Asia’s fourth largest airline said it could soon ground its fleet if passenger numbers fell further.
In a further sign Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was far from being contained in Hong Kong, the government said five more people had died and a further 42 had been infected with the flu-like virus.
It was the largest jump in the death toll in weeks. In total, 41 people have died of SARS in Hong Kong since the epidemic began in the city in March. At least 1,150 have been infected.
The illness has crippled tourism in Asia and forced airlines to cuts flights sharply. Economists say the longer the crisis lasts the deeper it will eat into the region’s economies and it could push some, including Hong Kong, back into recession.
AIRLINE LOSING $3 MILLION A DAY: Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways said in an internal memo the company was losing US$3 million a day.
The airline is carrying only a third of its usual traffic volume and a senior official said on Sunday the company could not rule out grounding its fleet next month if things got worse.
“If demand falls still further we will have to respond accordingly,” said Tony Tyler, director of corporate development.
“Clearly we can’t rule out any particular course of action, but we will respond to circumstances.”
Hong Kong’s airport authority said 195 flights, or 37 percent of those scheduled, were cancelled on Sunday. Passenger numbers at the airport have fallen more than 60 percent in recent days.
Canada, which has the third-largest number of SARS cases, said its death toll rose to 13, while there were more than 270 probable or suspected cases of infection. Thousands of people have been quarantined.
LONG HAUL: Singapore’s death toll rose to 12 and four new cases of the disease were reported but the government said primary and secondary schools would reopen on April 14 and 16, respectively, after having been closed since late last month.
“We are in this for the long haul,” Health Minister Lim Hng Kian said when asked if the virus was under control in Singapore.
SARS can lead to severe pneumonia and health officials say they are still not sure exactly how the virus spreads, although close contact with an infected person appears to be the main method of transmission. About four percent of those infected die.
DIRE AIRLINE OUTLOOK: The World Health Organisation issued an advisory this month against travel to southern China and Hong Kong. The measure has further cut the number of people travelling to Hong Kong, one of Asia’s main financial centres and top tourist destinations.
Hard-hit Cathay is carrying roughly 10,000 passengers every day, down from 30,000 in ordinary circumstances.
“We forecast that the number of passengers could fall to less than 6,000 per day in May, in which case we will have to consider grounding the entire passenger fleet,” Nick Rhodes, Cathay’s director of flight operations, said in an internal memo seen by Reuters on Saturday.
“We are literally haemorrhaging cash — approximately US$3 million per day,” he said in the memo, which was posted internally on Friday.
Tyler said Cathay had no plans to cancel all passenger flights. The airline has already cut 42 percent of its flights.
China says 59 people have died of SARS and more than 1,300 are infected. The illness has spread to a number of areas in China, most recently impoverished Inner Mongolia.
WHO officials have said the epidemic was being contained elsewhere in the world but they were worried about China and the ability of some infected areas of the mainland to recognise and control the illness.—AFP/ Reuters
