Insurers Exclude SARS Virus From Coverage

[DcupSheepNipples]

The Washington Times
By THERESA AGOVINO
AP Business Writer
Apr 18, 2003

NEW YORK (AP) -- Insurers have begun excluding SARS virus coverage from policies written for sponsors of special events such as concerts, trade shows and conventions because they know too little about the disease and its risks.

The exclusion affects event-cancellation policies written to protect sponsors against occurrences beyond their control, such as fire or hurricanes, that could ruin one-time occasions. In the past few weeks, insurers decided that they would no longer cover events canceled or hurt because of severe acute respiratory syndrome, which has killed about 170 people and sickened about 3,000 worldwide.

"The fear factor about SARS is pretty significant," said Scott T. Brady, director of Contingency Products Group at the insurance broker, Aon Risk Services Inc. "Insurers don't really understand it (SARS) and they can't qualify the risk and they don't want to take on any risk until they can figure out more about the disease."

For example, Chubb Corp. had stopped underwriting event-cancellation policies when the war in Iraq began but resumed offering them this week, albeit with a SARS exemption.

Brokers say the situation is similar to what happened in the market after the Sept. 11 attacks when insurers began adding terrorism exemptions to such coverage.

"SARS has become the new terrorism," said LeConte Moore, managing director of the entertainment and media practice in the New York office of Marsh Inc., a unit of the brokerage firm Marsh & McLennan Companies.

Terrorism exemptions stopped in the United States, at least, after a law was passed requiring insurers to offer terrorism insurance. Whether the trend in special events policies prompts legislation remains to be seen.

Special events coverage is a tiny sliver of the $160 billion commercial insurance market, according to the Insurance Information Institute. And most special events policies are written months in advance so near-term events canceled or hurt because of SARS would be covered. Neither Brady nor Moore said they'd seen any fallout such as canceling an event because of SARS exemptions yet.

In the United States, some insurers will agree to eliminate the exclusion.

However, such an elimination is more likely if the event will be attended by people who don't travel outside the United States much and doesn't draw an international audience. The vast majority of SARS cases have been in Asia.

"Insurers would rather be safe than sorry," Moore said.

 

[KAYNE]

INSURANCE COMPANIES SHOULD BE SHOT. ALL OF THEM.

 

[KAYNE]

Then who would insure ppl for medical coverage?

LITTLE GREEN MEN WHO SPEAK FUNNY.

 

[2Thick]

INSURANCE COMPANIES SHOULD BE SHOT. ALL OF THEM.

Then who would insure ppl for medical coverage?

 

[2Thick]

LITTLE GREEN MEN WHO SPEAK FUNNY.

The French?

 

[KAYNE]

The French?

NO....I SAID LITTLE "GREEN" MEN WHO SPEAK FUNNY. NOT LITTLE "GAY" MEN WHO SPEAK FUNNY.

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

I don't know how many of you have been keeping your eyes on SARS news or information! I know some of you can not see the harm SARS is doing or don't want to see it, but it is becoming worse every day! From nation destabilization, mass fear, illness, economy, jobs, to loss of freedom! Since SARS is a "mutant cold virus, let's hope it actually has a vacine discovered for it! Or Mother Nature will be kind and take care of it herself!

 

[danielson]

i havent seen the epidemiology reports on SARS, the fatality rate is 'said' to be low, but fuck knows what china ha been playing at...i think the WHO should ass rape those guys afterwards

but i think its greatest effects are gonna be economical in terms of far east travel....and then possibly for eastern econmies which could havea knock on effect. i dont think its hit that level yet though...

and the problems with finding a cure for a virus resembling a relativly benign virus....

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

i havent seen the epidemiology reports on SARS, the fatality rate is 'said' to be low, but fuck knows what china ha been playing at...i think the WHO should ass rape those guys afterwards

but i think its greatest effects are gonna be economical in terms of far east travel....and then possibly for eastern econmies which could havea knock on effect. i dont think its hit that level yet though...

and the problems with finding a cure for a virus resembling a relativly benign virus....

Well if HK is going to be the Poster Child, then it's going to be a f-ing disaster! Again hopefully because of the elements and factors in HK it will only affect them that way and not the rest of us!

 

[danielson]

problem is they are fucking pathetic over there in terms of their disease control procedures....not that we're hugely better but we dont try and cover shit up for THAT long...they should be screening all outbound passengers for the symptoms of SARS, namely fever, sore throat, chest pain and malaise. and if anyone fails, quarrantine them for 10 days! they do it in singapore!



hey did you hear about the bird flu that has started up in the netherlands? its already moved to belgium.....mass culling of chickens has begun....

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

problem is they are fucking pathetic over there in terms of their disease control procedures....not that we're hugely better but we dont try and cover shit up for THAT long...they should be screening all outbound passengers for the symptoms of SARS, namely fever, sore throat, chest pain and malaise. and if anyone fails, quarrantine them for 10 days! they do it in singapore!



hey did you hear about the bird flu that has started up in the netherlands? its already moved to belgium.....mass culling of chickens has begun....

Yah, I heard some report about it! The US has it's own problem with a Chicken Virus! Right now there is a Massive Genocide of Chickens going on! PETA is pissed! The UN is no where to be found!

 

[danielson]

crud, didnt hear about the US one.....

for some reason, vaccinating all the chickens in a ring around the affected individuals then culling the affected birds never gets done. probably because of cost....

screw PETA, this shit is important!

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

crud, didnt hear about the US one.....

for some reason, vaccinating all the chickens in a ring around the affected individuals then culling the affected birds never gets done. probably because of cost....

screw PETA, this shit is important!

It's does not jump to humans as of yet! But the chicken genocide goes on! I wish I could have all the chicken breasts! Such a waste of protein!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56136-2003Apr8.html

CA Farmers Put Live
Chickens In Wood Chipper
4-19-3


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two California poultry farmers who fed some 30,000 live chickens into wood chippers will not face criminal charges because they had permission from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, prosecutors said on Friday.

But a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States called the farmers "callous and barbaric" and disagreed with the decision not to prosecute them.

The farmers needed to destroy the chickens because they were "spent" -- or no longer able to produce eggs -- and could not make chicken soup out of them because the farms were under quarantine for the poultry virus Exotic Newcastle Disease, District Attorney's spokeswoman Gayle Stewart said.

Stewart said the men, who run a poultry farm near San Diego, asked a senior veterinarian with the Agriculture Department if they could employ the wood chippers and were given permission.

"Once they had permission we decided that they did not have any criminal intent," Stewart said.

Brothers Arie and Will Wilgenburg, who run Escondido-based Ward Poultry Farm, could not be reached for comment on Friday. Earlier, they told the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper that they were doing "what we thought we had to do" based on expert advice and stopped as soon as they learned otherwise.

Wayne Pacelle, a spokesman for the Humane Society, said that explanation was unacceptable.

"The act of feeding live chickens into a wood chipper is an extraordinarily callous and barbaric act and I can't imagine any person with a whit of common sense would use a wood chipper as a killing tool," he said. "No person with any experience in killing animals would sanction the use of this technique."

Pacelle said the District Attorney's decision not to prosecute the brothers rested on the "faulty assumption" that using wood chippers to kill chickens was an accepted practice.

 

[danielson]

It's does not jump to humans as of yet! But the chicken genocide goes on! I wish I could have all the chicken breasts! Such a waste of protein!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56136-2003Apr8.html

its costing holland well over a million a year

 

[Frackal]

Hopefully they're not not insuring things against SARS because they have knowledge that they'd be paying alot of money out in the future.

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Good Old China GNWO faction! Fucking Assholes!

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/04/20/sars.wrap/index.html

 

[danielson]

the bird flu in europe just had its first human fatality, but authoritites say its REALLY hard to spread from person to person

 

[Island Son]

Overall the WHO thinks we're getting a lid on the cases, but they're wondering if the virus has already mutated
-------------
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2003_04_19/en/

In addition, reports from Hong Kong health authorities indicate that patients in this cluster depart in some ways from the previously established clinical picture. The disease appears to be more severe both in Amoy residents and in related cases among hospital staff. Around 20% of Amoy-related cases require intensive care, compared with 10% seen in non-Amoy cases. Some deaths are now occurring in younger, previously healthy persons as well as in the elderly and persons with underlying disease. Around 66% of Amoy Gardens patients present with diarrhoea as a symptom, compared with 2% to 7% of cases in other outbreaks.

Speculation centres on whether these cases represent infection with high virus loads, as might occur following exposure to a concentrated environmental source, or whether the virus may have mutated into a more virulent form. Viruses in the Coronavirus family are known to mutate frequently.
---------------

In Toronto, younger people without previous illness who catch it are also getting sicker, according to today's Star www.thestar.ca

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

SARS Closes Down Toronto's Biggest Trauma Unit!
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/04/19/sarsto_030419

SARS Closes Entire Vancouver Hospital Ward!
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/04/19/sars_vancouver030419

SARS may soon run amok!
Toronto case stirs docs' fears!
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/76834p-70871c.html

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

SARS Found 'Mutating Rapidly' -
Vaccine Unlikely
By Richard McGregor in Shanghai
Financial Times - London
4-22-3

China's top genomics institute discovered that the Sars virus was mutating rapidly when it independently sequenced its genetic blueprint, raising new fears about developing a vaccine to combat it. Advertisement

"A few nucleotide differences among individual genomes were detected, as the virus is expected to mutate very fast and easily," said the Beijing Genomics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in a statement on the internet.

The institute says the mutations will need to be studied further to find an accurate diagnostic test and effective treatment for the fast-spreading and sometimes lethal viral infection.

Chinese health and propaganda authorities, which have tightly controlled all information about Sars, initially refused to allow the institute to make a public announcement of its findings when it completed the sequencing on April 16.

The institute, one of China's most respected research bodies, circumvented the restriction by posting its findings without fanfare on an academic website.

Similar institutes in Canada and the US that have also sequenced samples of the Sars virus in the last fortnight had won praise from their governments.

But the tide turned against the health and political establishment in China with the dismissal of senior officials on Sunday over their handling of the crisis, and in favour of experts such as the scientists at the institute.

The institute has now received official backing from Hu Jintao, China's president, who visited researchers at the weekend to compliment them on their work.

The institute collaborated with the Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Beijing to decipher the code of two viruses collected from samples in China.

One was isolated from a lung autopsy in Guangzhou, southern China, near to where the virus is believed to have originated. The second was from a mixture of autopsy tissues from the liver and lymph nodes of a Sars victim in Beijing, according to the web posting.

The sequencing allowed the development of a much-needed diagnostic test which can detect the presence of the Sars virus within one hour, the Chinese media reported on Monday.

The test detects the presence of an antibody produced by the body in response to infection with the virus.

The Beijing Genomics Institute is best known for recently sequencing the DNA of the rice genome and is also involved in the international human genome project.

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

So much for 1%, 4% and so on!

Doubling of the SARS Death Rate Puzzles Health Officials

By Lawrence K. Altman
The New York times

The death rate from severe acute respiratory syndrome has more than doubled to 5.6 percent since the epidemic was first detected in mid-March, causing deep concern among health officials.
Although the overall death rate from the World Health Organization's statistics has hovered around 4 percent over the last three weeks, it has varied widely among the 26 countries -- and Hong Kong -- with SARS cases.
When WHO, the lead agency investigating SARS, first reported daily statistics on the disease, the death rate was about 2 percent. It was 2.4 percent on March 17 and 1.8 percent on March 18. At that time, the number of cases was less than 220.
But as the number of cases has increased -- to 3,861 on Monday -- the death rate also has steadily risen, leaving health officials worried. Lacking a precise explanation for the rise, health officials have generated a number of theories. In outbreaks of other new infections, the death rate has usually fallen with time.
"It's worrying, and we hope it is not an indication of a continuing trend," said Klaus Stoehr, the scientific director of WHO's SARS investigation.
Although health officials have calculated a death rate from SARS, it is not yet final, in part because researchers have not developed diagnostic tests to determine who definitely has the disease.
The current 5.6 percent death rate for SARS is much higher than that for the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, which was less than 1 percent, said Stoehr. But the influenza pandemic killed from 20 million to 40 million people in the world because it spread so quickly.
One theory about the rising SARS death rate is that the initial cases involved health care workers who were healthy adults 20 to 45 years old and who had better access to health care than others. Then as the infected health workers unintentionally spread SARS to their families and friends, and they, in turn, spread it to other people, SARS has infected an increasing number of older people with heart disease, diabetes and other underlying chronic ailments.
A second theory is that many of the SARS deaths occurred among patients who became ill weeks ago but who died only recently after long hospital stays.
Another, more controversial, theory is that the SARS virus, which is a newly discovered member of the coronavirus family, has become more virulent as it has infected new generations of cases. While some doctors in Asia have advanced this theory, Stoehr said he was doubtful about it because most viruses establish a balance between killing a large percentage of their victims and allowing people to survive so the virus can continue to be transmitted.
"There's a lot of anecdotal information and speculation, but no solid statistical studies, so it is far too early to come up with any conclusions," Stoehr said in a telephone interview from his office in Geneva.
WHO has sent teams of epidemiologists and other experts to affected countries to help with immediate problems in controlling the epidemic. But, Stoehr said, setting up studies to answer the many questions that have arisen over the death rate and other issues takes time, staff and money.
WHO is short on staff and money to do all the desired studies and "so far we don't have the data collected properly," Stoehr said.

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Apr/04222003/nation_w/50118.asp

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

SARS Mutates - Now
Hitting Intestines, Too
News24.com - South Africa
4-22-3

HONG KONG -- The deadly Sars virus is now attacking the intestines as well as the respiratory system, a leading Hong Kong microbiologist said on Tuesday.

Speaking on Hong Kong radio station RTHK, Professor Malik Peiris of Hong Kong University said the change may indicate the virus has mutated as many experts feared.

Professor Peiris is one of the microbiologists at the forefront of the Hong Kong research into the Sars virus which on Tuesday claimed another five people in the territory bringing the total deaths to 99.

His comments come amid growing concern that the virus is becoming more virulent with many doctors noting changes in the way the disease behaves and who it proves fatal to.

A number of deaths over the last week have occurred in younger previously healthy people - one being a 34-year-old pregnant woman.

An increasing number of those infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) are now suffering from diarrhoea. As many of two thirds of the residents who contracted Sars in the outbreak at the Amoy Gardens high-rise had diarrhoea, according to health officials.

Dr Tom Buckley, the head of the intensive care unit at Hong Kong's Princess Margaret Hospital, said organ failure was also now becoming more common.

"Initially patients were presenting with just respiratory failure," he said. "Now we're seeing renal failure and other organ failure.

Hong Kong on Tuesday recorded 32 new infections - ten more than Monday -bringing the total to 1 434. The latest deaths were all elderly people over the age 65, with four having an history of chronic illness.

Announcing the latest figures, health secretary E K Yeoh said he believed Sars would not go away and that they had to concentrate on controlling it.

"We do not anticipate that it will be eradicated completely because this virus is highly infectious," he said. "So our primary task is to reduce the size of the viral load in the community and prevent outbreaks."

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Sars/0,,2-10-1488_1350353,00.html

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Gloves, Masks, Gown Don't
Stop SARS At Hospital
Virus Hits 'Protected' Toronto Medical Staff

By David Rider
CanWest News Service
4-20-3

Unlike the first cases of Sars in the territory, recent ones appear to be less responsive to treatment

Recent cases of Sars in Hong Kong were more serious and less responsive to treatment than those who first came down with the illness, stumping health officials, who also reported 12 deaths yesterday in the territory's highest one-day jump.

Health authorities also revealed yesterday that a Cathay Pacific steward had been confirmed with Sars and that efforts were being made to contact the 220 passengers on CX714 from Singapore to Hongkong last Tuesday.
O
With 31 new cases yesterday, Hong Kong now has 1,358 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).

Dr Yu Wai Cho, a consultant with the Princess Margaret Hospital, told reporters: 'Recent cases, not just from Amoy Gardens, but also from other areas such as Kwun Tong, are more seriously afflicted and respond less well to treatment.'

Health officials are stumped and are investigating this development. But they did not rule out the viral load, mutation of the Sars virus, or the existence of an additional virus. And with fatalities rising in recent weeks, health officials are hard pressed to explain the treatment protocol they have adopted.

Dr Yu said Sars treatment here, comprising the anti-viral drug Ribavirin and steroids, was at a mature stage. Generally, 95 per cent of patients respond to this cocktail. The recovery rate for patients who sought treatment within five days of contracting Sars was very high, he said.

Dr Loretta Yam of the Pamela Youde Eastern Hospital, who visited Guangzhou last week to exchange information on Sars with Guangdong officials, said mainland doctors were also using Ribavirin and steroids.

Health Secretary Yeoh Eng Kiong said: 'My last phone call with the Ministry of Health in Singapore told me that they were, in fact, using very similar treatment as we are. So, this is the global experience.'
MORTALITY RATE
InAs doctors grapple with new Sars remedies, Hong Kong is looking at solving a number of long standing problems that might affect hygiene, including littering and building density.

Home Affairs Secretary Patrick Ho, who walked past cockroach-infested sites, clogged drains and heaps of rubbish in backlanes during a clean-up blitz yesterday, said: 'I feel ashamed at how dirty Hong Kong is. Conditions are terrible!'

He was one of several ministers, led by Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa, taking part in the two-day clean-up of environmental black spots that began yesterday.

The officials, assigned to different locations territory-wide, took up brooms, mops and brushes, and handed out bottles of bleach and hygiene kits to residents.

Community leader Rosanna Wong, who led 6,000 volunteers in the exercise, said: 'We want to show the world that we are determined to make Hong Kong clean.'

Apart from luring visitors back to a more hygienic territory, the high-profile campaign also aims to boost local consumption, which has taken a battering in the Sars scare.

Chief Secretary Donald Tsang had a cup of coffee in a cafe in Lan Kwai Fong, while Treasury Secretary Frederick Ma bought some food at a street stall.

Housing Secretary Michael Suen said that after the experience at Amoy Gardens which has over 320 Sars cases, building regulations would be reviewed to ensure that flats are built further apart.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,184245,00.html

 

[bigguns7]

What is the point of this thread?

SARS in general, or insurers reaction to SARS, or what?

 

[danielson]

its getting to the stage now where they shuld be reducing travel to affected areads and quarranting those who come it, temperature scans etc....

almost every government i can think of has twiddled its thumbs over this....they need to get a hold on it. most countries are just telling passengers if they have symptiomes, go see a doc. meanwhile all this fairly simple thermo camera stuff isnt being used

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

What is the point of this thread?

SARS in general, or insurers reaction to SARS, or what?

Both! Rather than continue old SARS threads I'm using it to post info on SARS! No need to clog the boards with hundreds of SARS posts! I thought i was just using common sense! That is all! Take from it what you will!

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Now China closes Beijing Schools! WTF is going on?


China Closes Beijing Schools Due to SARS


Apr 23, 2003
By JOE McDONALD
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) - China ordered all public schools in its capital closed Wednesday, leaving almost 2 million students to study at home following a major jump in the number of reported SARS cases in the city.

The closure begins Thursday and lasts for two weeks through what would have been the May Day school holiday, said an official of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission. The official, who would give her name only as Miss Cui, said tests for primary, junior high and high school students were postponed indefinitely.

Cui wouldn't give a reason, but Beijing newspapers cited a government notice that said it was meant to prevent the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, which has killed at least 28 people in the Chinese capital. The closure will effect about 1.7 million students.

On Tuesday, Hong Kong reopened most secondary schools three weeks after they were closed to help contain the ailment.


China's health ministry said on Sunday Beijing's number of infections had surged nearly tenfold from 37 to 339. More triple-digit increases were announced Tuesday and Wednesday, raising Beijing's total cases to 588.

The Beijing Morning News said students with Internet access would receive lessons at home, and teachers would be required to come to work to supervise their studies.

Chinese authorities on Sunday called off the weeklong May Day vacation period in hopes of preventing tens of millions of Chinese from traveling and possibly spreading the virus. They later restored five days, but travel agencies were barred from transporting tour groups from one province to another.

Nationwide, China has reported 106 deaths from SARS and says it has more than 2,100 people infected. Six new SARS deaths were reported in Hong Kong on Wednesday, pushing the territory's toll to 105.

An estimated 4,000 people worldwide have been infected by SARS, and about 250 have died, mostly in Asia. The United States has reported just 38 probable cases and no deaths.

Most of mainland China's deaths and infections are in Guangdong, the southern province where the disease is suspected to have originated. But new cases are being reported daily in areas ranging from central China to its northwestern desert regions and northern grasslands.

Beijing's mayor was replaced Tuesday after the city government was accused of mishandling the outbreak. The World Health Organization said city officials failed to trace patients who might have been exposed, which the U.N. agency said could let the disease spread.

Elsewhere, the eastern city of Hangzhou has called off community programs in school facilities and closed school playgrounds and sports fields to outsiders, newspapers reported.

They said schools throughout the country have been ordered to step up work on disinfecting their facilities and teaching students hygiene, but no other closures were immediately reported.

In Beijing, an infrared body temperature scanner has been set up at the capital's airport to check passengers for fever, a SARS symptom, news reports said. They said similar devices are to be set up at train stations and airports in Shanghai, the county's biggest city.

In Hong Kong, the World Health Organization said it had doubts about a government report blaming sewage leaks and personal contact for a huge outbreak at an apartment complex. More than 300 people caught the disease at the Amoy Gardens apartments, and 14 have died.

Studies by Hong Kong researchers showed the SARS virus can survive for at least 24 hours on a surface coughed on or touched by a victim, longer than the three hours some had previously thought.

"The virus is very obstinate. It is very difficult to kill," microbiologist John Tam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong said in a radio interview broadcast Wednesday.

The Mormon Church said Wednesday it has temporarily stopped sending missionaries to Hong Kong as a precaution against SARS, and those already on the streets here are wearing masks and avoiding contact such as handshakes. None of Hong Kong's 30,000 Mormons are known to have caught SARS.

Hoping to ease the economic strains from SARS, Hong Kong officials said they will temporarily cut taxes, lower some charges and guarantee bank loans as part of a $1.5 billion assistance package.

In Canada, the SARS death toll rose by one on Tuesday, to a total of 15. Experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived in Toronto to help officials figure out how to stop the spread of SARS within hospitals.

Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, said it will allow authorities to quarantine suspected SARS sufferers. Australia has had just three probable cases of SARS, all members of one family who have recovered.

Hawaii, which receives many visitors from Asia, so far seems safer than many locales, the incoming director of the WHO said Tuesday. There are only five suspected cases of SARS in Hawaii, two of which are designated "probable" infections.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030423/D7QJ8T501.html

 

[rsnoble]

I didnt read all that, but if it's true somethings up. Theres going to be more than a few cases obviously.

And by the way, FUCK INSURANCE COMPANIES IN THEIR ASSES!!!

I read a report that estimated at current projections only 10% of the US population by the year 2039 will have health insurance. Right about the time most of us will need it most. Something has got to be done. Soon.

 

[40butpumpin]

Gloves, Masks, Gown Don't Stop SARS At Hospital Virus Hits 'Protected' Toronto Medical Staff...

Jesus! I didn't see this earlier, man that is NOT good news.

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Jesus! I didn't see this earlier, man that is NOT good news.

Neither is this! Forget the illness it's self the economic damage, nation destabilization, panic, and quarantines are getting worse every day! Keep in mind this is only the begining! It better be stopped or slowed soon! Worst of all it's taking out those in the medical fields that are supposed to help stop it! Again like you posted the world is long over due for a Super Plague! Hopefully SARS will not be the one now!

Tougher Measurs Fail To
Stop SARS - 15 New Deaths
AFP
4-23-3

China dispatched special squads to round up sick people and Singapore vowed to jail citizens who defied quarantine orders as governments adopted increasingly desperate measures to contain the killer SARS epidemic.

But despite a coordinated global drive against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, 15 new fatalities and hundreds of new cases were reported, and the economic cost of the epidemic in Asia kept rising.

SARS has defied global health checks to spread to over 25 countries. Latest figures Wednesday showed nine new deaths and 147 new cases in China, as well as six fatalities and 32 new cases in Hong Kong.

Seven weeks after the World Health Organisation issued a global alert about SARS -- for which there is no cure or vaccine -- at least 248 people have died from the illness and over 4,300 cases have been reported.

The scale of the task ahead was outlined in a gloomy situation report by the US Centers for Disease Control.

"We still have no capacity to predict where it's going or how large it's ultimately going to be," said CDC head Julie Gerberding.

"We're very sobered by the ongoing transmission in parts of the world, including Hong Kong where very, very appropriate public health steps have been taken, and yet the epidemic is continuing to evolve there."

Much of the focus is now on China, where the authorities said Wednesday they were adopting ougher measures in an attempt to prevent SARS criss-crossing the vast country and taking a hold on rural areas.

After facing strong criticism over its failure to act sooner, the government this week has launched frenzied efforts to report the extent of the disease and to contain its damaging fall-out.

State media said every town throughout China was given "strict orders" to report on SARS cases in all hospitals, and that tens of thousands of people had been mobilized for the effort.

In Beijing, along with Hong Kong the worst affected city in the world, the government dispatched hundreds of investigators to round up citizens with the disease's flu-like symptoms and shut down the city's primary and secondary schools for a month.

"Unceasingly, the investigations into the epidemic must identify all with symptoms, and not let one case escape," said Liu Qi, Communist Party chief in the capital.

China has recorded 106 deaths and 2,305 confirmed cases since the disease first emerged in the southern province of Guangdong in November.

In Singapore, where 14 people have died and several thousand quarantined, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong vowed to push through legislation allowing the government to jail people who broke isolation orders.

France and the Australian state of New South Wales said they would add SARS to a list of dangerous diseases thereby allowing the forcible hospitalization of victims.

And both the Philippines and Mauritius enacted new quarantine measures.

Canada, the worst affected area outside Asia with more than 300 cases, announced a 15th death and eight new cases.

While in Hong Kong, where 105 people have died from SARS and over 1,400 cases have been recorded, the government announced a 1.5 billion US dollar package to help businesses hit by a collapse in consumer spending.

The epidemic is having a particularly devastating impact on tourism and travel in Asia, and airlines are feeling the pain.

Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific said it had now cut 45 percent of all flights, while Air New Zealand said it was cutting seven percent of flights and lowering its profits forecast for the year.

Singapore said visitor arrivals fell nearly 70 percent in the second week of April, while in the Philippines tourist arrivals were down nearly 10 percent in March.

The epidemic has also led to mass cancellations of concerts, trade fairs, exhibitions and sporting events across Asia.

The latest victims were the Arafura Games in the northern Australian city of Darwin, bringing together athletes from across Asia, and Hong Kong's famed dragon boat races. China's largest-ever car show in Shanghai also closed three days early.

In addition to China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada, SARS deaths have been recorded in Vietnam (5), Thailand (2), Malaysia (1) and the Philippines (1).


Thursday April 24, 6:50 AM
US economy starting to feel effect of SARS
Amid heightened concerns about SARS, the US economy is starting to feel the effects of the deadly new strain of pneumonia, according to new industry and government reports.

The US Federal Reserve, in its Beige Book survey released Wednesday, cited SARS as a factor holding back an ailing US economy by cutting into tourism in some regions of the country.

"San Francisco noted that international travel had weakened, due in part to the SARS outbreak in Asia. Dallas observed a decline in air travel due to the onset of the war and the SARS outbreak," the Beige Book said.

The staggering airline industry is especially hard hit by the outbreak.

The Air Transport Association said that SARS was a factor in the decline in airline traffic in the Easter and Passover week, with declines especially pronounced to Asian destinations.

Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) for the week ended April 20 were down 10.5 percent compared with the same period in 2002, the association said.

Traffic declines for Pacific destinations were down 39.6 percent and transatlantic travel was off 25.8 percent, it said.

The association said Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was now a big factor in the slump.

"The weak economy and concerns over SARS continue to affect the airline industry," said ATA president and chief executive James May.

Some analysts say the worst is yet to come for a sputtering US economy, predicting a ripple effect as jobs are cut back.

The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome could grow if companies quarantine workers traveling to or from affected countries, said a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc.

"There is no estimating right now the impact SARS will have on employment until an employer discloses that cutbacks in shifts, working hours and, ultimately, payroll have been made due to loss of business directly related to the inability to satisfy customers in SARS countries," said the firm's chief executive, John Challenger.

"Companies that have dealings in any of the countries affected by SARS are basically in a lose-lose situation. If they decide to postpone travel, they could lose valuable business. Without these transactions, some companies may be forced to cut payroll," he said.

"On the other hand, if they send sales representatives or other executives, they may have to quarantine them upon their return, thus losing their output for at least 10 days, which is the quarantine time recommended by the Center for Disease Control," Challenger said.

US factories could cut jobs if parts and other supplies are no longer purchased from companies in SARS affected countries, he said.

According to one electronics industry research firm, half of all electronic parts made in Asia were transported to America on passenger jets, no subject to cuts because of SARS, Challenger said.

Among the most affected countries were China, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam and Taiwan, according to the World Health Organization.

Challenger said he was worried that the SARS epidemic could have far reaching implications on the US and global economies.

"SARS clearly has the potential for far greater impact than anything we have faced before," he said.

SARS is already seen as impacting global trade, according to a new report by the World Trade Organization.

WTO experts have projected, in their latest World Trade Figures report, growth of two to three percent in global trade this year, held back in part by SARS.

This pace would be less than half the 6.7 percent average rate of goods trade growth seen in the 1990s, and would be little better than last year's 2.5-percent increase.

Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo Bank, said the disease could have a big trade-distorting impact if US firms start to look away from Asia for goods.

"The impact of SARS on trade is uncertain," he said. "If the disease continues unabated, there could be a permanent shift in supply chains away from Southern China and Hong Kong."

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