The Hindu : Virus hits Hong Kong housing estate

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2003

International

International

Virus hits Hong Kong housing estate

Hong Kong March 31. Hong Kong health officials said today that 92 new cases of a deadly pneumonia have been found in a housing estate, raising the total number of cases there to 213.

The Health Secretary, Yeoh Eng-kiong, said at a press briefing that the Government decided to impose an isolation order in a block of the estate today as the number of new cases had risen sharply from 121 on Sunday. He said out of 213 people, 107 were from just one block.

Mr. Yeoh said the isolation order was imposed as the Government was ``alarmed by the huge increase'' in the number of cases of SARS there in the past few days. The worldwide toll from SARS now stands at nearly 60, with 34 deaths in China, 13 in Hong Kong, four in Vietnam, four in Canada, three in Singapore and one in Thailand. Meanwhile, the illness has taken root just north of the U.S. border in Canada's largest city, and officials warn it may be more contagious than originally thought. So far, severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, has killed four people in Toronto, including a patient who died on Saturday night. The total number of probable or suspected cases in Canada approaches 100, most of them in the Toronto area. — AP

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