Shanghai SARS Cases a State Secret (China caught in lies -- again)

Time Asia ^ | April 24, 2003 | Hannah Beech

[Prince Charles]

Bttt.

[blam]

"I now have 1/2 my yard mowed and the neighbors are uncorking champagne."

I've put mine off for two weeks and now there is a 70% chance of rain.

[EternalHope]

PS I have spent so much time on these threads that I had to take a break. I now have 1/2 my yard mowed and the neighbors are uncorking champagne.

Don't know what to think about Hong Kong/SARS, but the grass is not a problem. I have a teenage son who mows it.

I think we'll know a LOT more in about a week.

[FreepForever]

Well, you can say that Hong Kong is starting to show a trend to level off. It's definitely not in the box yet.

Good news: Number of recovering cases/day is starting to exceed new cases/day. About 30 new cases/day.

Bad news: Frontline medical care workers still continuous to get infected (1/3 of new cases) despite full protection measures are already being taken.

Happy mowing!

[CathyRyan]

Never had a house before so when it came time to pick out a lawnmower I asked my brother's opinion and he said get a self-propelled one. It will be great exercise. I am now barely speaking to him... My first clue should have been everyone else in the neighborhood has a riding mower. LOL

[Nov3]

It may have reached critical mass over there. We will know in 2 weeks or so.

[aristeides]

China mobilizes to curb spread across nation:

At the invitation of Shanghai officials, a World Health Organization team spent a second day Tuesday inspecting medical facilities in China's largest city, a teeming metropolis of about 14 million that so far has reported only two cases of SARS. Shanghai's deputy mayor pledged full cooperation with the six-man team.

[per loin]

Why are you spreading this unkind rumor about grass still growing during this SARS epidemic?

[Betty Jo]

I think in a rather short period of time the whole world will be infected.

By then it will be obvious if any racial tags are attached.

Even if Arabs are infected,it wont change my opinion that SARS is terrorist caused.

They didnt care if Arabs died on 9/11,so probably they are Ok with their own dying in this attack.

How soon before FOOD and other goodies like lights etc become victims in China?

If no travel is allowed in or out of areas,how does the food get in?

If everyone gets infected,who keeps the electricity on?

I would say this is now "SHOCK AND AWE" .

SARS is a WMD in plain sight.

[aristeides]

China Quarantines Thousands on SARS Fears :

Compared to Beijing, however, Shanghai appeared "stuck in the dark ages," a Western executive said about China's financial center. The government continues to insist that there are only two SARS cases and no fatalities in the city of 16 million people. One reason is that the city uses a different standard to judge SARS than the rest of China, according to state-run media. Unless a patient actually came from a SARS-infected region, the patient can't be diagnosed as having SARS, the Southern Weekend newspaper reported. The city was forced to close its massive auto show three days ahead of schedule when a reporter from Beijing came to Shanghai with the disease, sources said. Doctors in the city said they have been told to list causes of death other than SARS on death certificates.

A doctor at Renji Hospital in Shanghai said a 50-year-old woman died in early April of SARS but the hospital said it was just pneumonia.

"I had a look at her lung X-ray. It is very obvious she contracted SARS," the doctor said.

Chinese sources said Shanghai's government has enormous influence in Beijing, so it can afford to ignore orders from President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao to stop lying about SARS' spread. Three former Shanghai city officials are on the all-powerful Standing Committee of the Communist Party's Politburo and former president Jiang Zemin, who maintains substantial influence, is also the city's former party secretary.

"Shanghai thinks it can do anything it wants in China," said a Communist Party source in Beijing. "The western media and the World Health Organization forced Beijing to be more honest." A WHO team has been in Shanghai for the past four days. "Our team in China has clearly indicated that they feel there are probably more cases in Shanghai than have been reported," said David Heymann, the WHO's executive director for communicable disease, in a statement on the organization's Web site.

[aristeides]

German carrier Lufthansa cancels flights from Munich to Shanghai, HK.

[CathyRyan]

Terrible of me to bring up the subject at a time like this. I did consider the situation earlier when I was at the store I did look longingly at couple 25 pounds bags of salt and had thoughts of the fertlifzer spreader finally being put to better use. But decided that might just over doing it a bit. Even though I could then spend more time on these threads. ;)

[blam]

I just got back from my local Chinese restaurant. The owners are a nice, young hard working couple, she (Connie) is from Guandong and he is from Hong Kong. I asked Connie about the schools being closed in Peking (1.7 million kids), she said no. I asked her about the cancellations of May Day travelling, she said no. I told her what we have all been reading and she was suprised. She said that she had talked to her family last night and the Peking schools were still open and that her family had tickets for their May Day travels and didn't know anything about 'the scare' that we're reading about. She said the SARS problem was already 'cured' in Guandong and the biggest problem was in Hong Kong. I stopped talking to her about it. Hmmmmm.

[Betty Jo]

The economic losses due to SARS will soon be overwhelming to the point of economic collapse of the entire world.

I hope that the forensic financial teams at CIA-FBI whatever, are looking into the stock manipulations that are going on,as in those Chicago pre 9/11 moves.

How long will government secrecy everywhere go by the boards?

[aristeides]

Easton grad tapped to find answers to SARS mystery .

[CathyRyan]

That does not sound good. I am starting to think China is a write off.

[DannyTN]

That is so stupid...

The reaction of China and Toronto sets a precedent. Any city that develops a SARS problem is going to have to decide whether to tell the truth and suffer the short term economic consequences while they get their hands around the problem. Or lie like crazy and let the uninformed public make the situation 10 times worse.

Unfortunately, it looks like many are starting to choose the lie.

[blam]

"German carrier Lufthansa cancels flights from Munich to Shanghai, HK."

Due to lack of demand for the flights, right?

[seeker41]

Update on cases and countries

As of today, a cumulative total of 4439 cases with 263 deaths have been reported from 26 countries. This represents an increase of 158 new cases and 12 deaths compared with yesterday. The deaths occurred in Canada (2), China (4), Hong Kong SAR (4), and Singapore (2). Bulgaria reported its first case today.

[per loin]

I am starting to think China is a write off.

I am starting to think that historians will speak of this time as the beginning of "The Age of SARS".