The Hindu : SARS situation stabilises

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 03, 2003

International

International

SARS situation stabilises

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE May 2. There was no sign of any respite from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in China, although the health authorities in Beijing today underlined that the new disease might have "stabilised'' or hit a "platform'' of neither improvement nor deterioration.

According to the Deputy Director of the Beijing Health Bureau, Liang Wannian, the spread of the dreaded disease had now entered "a stable period, with the upward trend contained''. However, there was no real cheer on the SARS front in China as a whole. The overall death roll was put at 181 by Friday morning, as against a global figure of 391 dead by Thursday. The total number of confirmed SARS cases in China today stood at 3,799 (the global figure as on Thursday being 5,865 across 27 countries and territories).

The latest number of suspected SARS cases in China was put at 2,459 over and above the probable or confirmed cases. The situation in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region remained a matter of serious concern for yet another day, with some researchers at a university there saying that the "coronavirus'', believed to be the cause of the disease, showing signs of "mutating'' at a "rapid'' rate. This aspect might make the fight against the disease that much more formidable, it was emphasised. There was still no authoritative word from China on how the disease originated last November.

On the wider regional front, the recent accord between China and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on ways to combat the SARS and contain its spread would be implemented through practical measures to be decided upon at a meeting in the Philippines by the middle of this month.

The Chinese President, Hu Jintao, and his South Korean counterpart, Roh Moo-hyun, discussed the SARS situation over phone today, with Seoul expressing solidarity with Beijing on this score.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the North Korean nuclear issue.

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