Posted on 05/30/2003 11:48:04 AM PDT by per loin
Beijing — A top Chinese health official denied charges that Beijing tried to hide the seriousness of the SARS virus, saying Friday that the government warned about SARS as early as February and early efforts to fight it were slowed by poor information.
In an encouraging sign, meanwhile, the World Health Organization said Friday that it will remove Singapore from the list of countries affected by the SARS virus because the city-state had not reported a new case of SARS in 20 days.
Gao Qiang, China's executive deputy health minister, waved a copy of the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily, which reported about an atypical pneumonia on Feb. 12 that had killed five people in Guangdong province and infected 305.
The symptoms were similar to what now is known as severe acute respiratory syndrome, including fever, dry cough and chills, Mr. Gao said. The World Health Organization believes that SARS originated in Guangdong.
"Infectious diseases are impossible to cover up," he said. "You may be able to cover up figures, but you can never cover up viruses."
Mr. Gao's comments were the highest-level response yet to accusations that party officials tried to cover up the extent of the illness. Critics have complained that China's early reluctance to release information might have worsened the impact of the disease.
Mr. Gao repeated official explanations that an inadequate Chinese public health network was to blame for earlier underreporting of the true scale of China's outbreak. "The Chinese government did not conceal the truth," he said.
The SARS virus has killed at least 755 people worldwide out of more than 8,300 people infected, the vast majority of them in Asia. China has been the hardest hit, with 328 deaths. WHO said in mid-March that it was a global health threat.
Also Friday, China reported one new SARS fatality and seven new cases. The Shanghai city government announced that it would no longer require people returning from trips to SARS-affected areas to quarantine themselves at home.
The China National Tourism Administration said Friday that travel agencies will be allowed to resume group tours from Guangdong to the neighbouring cities of Hong Kong and Macau in June.
Group tours from overseas will be welcomed in China beginning in July, although areas affected by SARS will remain off-limits, and tours between provinces and to overseas destinations are still banned, the announcement posted on the administration's Web site said.
Encouraging news also came from Singapore. The World Health Organization said Friday that Singapore will be removed from its SARS list because it has been 20 days since the last locally acquired case was placed in isolation.
The 20-day period represents twice the maximum incubation period. The illness has killed 31 people in Singapore since March and sickened 206. About 290 people are currently under home quarantine.
This is New York Times piece which maintains that there is no real spread of SARS in rural China.
I'm not sure what to think, although it certainly appears that China is relaxing somewhat.
Maybe all the citizens were freaked out enough by the disease (which they certainly were) that some of their precautions really worked.
This statement is true. The Chinese government did put out information on SARS in February. Also in February, the U.S. consulates in China had issued warnings to U.S. citizens about travel to Southern China because of the disease.
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