Posted on 04/06/2003 3:22:11 AM PDT by sarcasm
HONG KONG (AP) -- A Hong Kong man locked himself in his apartment for more than 14 hours Sunday as police and health workers in protective garb tried to convince him to go to a hospital to be treated for severe acute respiratory illness.
Police eventually persuaded the 45-year-old man to come out, said Cherry Yau, a police spokeswoman.
SARS has killed 20 people in Hong Kong and prompted mass quarantines. There have been at least 90 deaths worldwide, more than half of them in mainland China.
Cable television networks showed health workers dressed head to toe in protective gear waiting at the ground floor of the apartment building in the suburban district of Tseung Kwan O, with an ambulance on standby.
The contagious disease has sickened 800 people in Hong Kong. Thirty-nine new cases were reported on Saturday, including 10 medical workers.
Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people have been wearing surgical masks to try to prevent the spread of the disease -- including nearly everyone who attended a morning Mass at the Roman Catholic Cathedral here.
The priests were also wearing masks and have stopped serving wine during Holy Communion.
Officials said ``some staff members'' of three wards at the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital and one at the United Christian Hospital were suspected to suffer from SARS.
They have urged people who have visited the wards at the two hospitals on specific dates to contact them.
SARS has dealt a heavy blow to Hong Kong's economy. Air travel to the former British colony slowed to a trickle after the World Health Organization last week advised against traveling to Hong Kong and southern China's Guangdong province for fears of SARS.
Hong Kong's Airport Authority said 119 flights, or 22 percent of Sunday's total scheduled flights, were canceled. It expects a 14 percent drop in total flights this month.
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