Authorities in
Toronto said they were investigating what could be the country’s
first new infections in more than a month, adding two recent deaths in
a hospital there may have been caused by SARS and that more than 20
other people may have been exposed to the virus.
“We are assuming
the worst,” said Donald Low, director of microbiology at Mount Sinai
Hospital.
If the cases turn out
to be SARS they will signal the resurgence of the virus in Canada, the
country that has been hardest hit by SARS outside Asia with 24 deaths
since its outbreak in March.
Health officials were
also investigating the source of five new possible cases of SARS --
Canada’s first new cases in more than a month -- with the US Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommending that any
non-essential travel to Toronto be postponed.
But the mood in Hong
Kong Saturday was further boosted following the lifting of a
SARS-related World Health Organisation (WHO) travel ban, when
officials reported no new cases for the first time since figures were
first regularly released in March.
The WHO lifted its
SARS warning against non-essential travel to Hong Kong and the
neighbouring southern Chinese province of Guangdong Friday, saying the
outbreaks in the two regions were being contained.
Hong Kong, however,
reported two more fatalities Saturday taking the death toll to 262
from 1,724 infections since March 12.
The Taiwanese
government meanwhile insisted the SARS epidemic on the island was
being brought under control, while mainland officials pointed to a
downward trend in SARS cases in the Chinese capital Beijing.
Taiwan’s Department
of Health (DOH) reported 10 new cases of SARS on Saturday, taking the
number of infections on the island to 548. The new cases were sharply
down from 55 reported Friday and a record 65 on Thursday.
“We expect the
number will continue to go down, and we are very sure about this
trend,” Li Ming-liang, head of the cabinet’s SARS control task
force, told a press conference.
The department
announced no new deaths from SARS, with the official toll remaining at
60.
The southern Chinese
province of Guangdong meanwhile issued an all points alert for the
endangered civet cat, determined by medical scientists in recent
research as a likely source of the global SARS epidemic.
Feng Shaoming,
spokesman for the Guangdong Health Bureau told AFP that local police
and health authorities would be stepping up action to disinfect animal
markets and hunt out traffickers of the beast which has been popular
with local gourmets of wild and exotic food.
Saturday’s
newspapers in Guangdong were plastered with pictures of the civet cat
following the announcement by researchers at the University of Hong
Kong (HKU) Friday that the coronavirus which causes SARS has been
traced to the mammal.
Some of the first
victims of SARS were in Guangdong province -- where the outbreak
started in November -- were chefs or people who had contact with
exotic animals.
China on Saturday
reported a total of 34 new SARS cases and five more deaths, taking the
nationwide death toll to 308 and the cumulative number of cases to
5,309.
But officials in the
Chinese capital said the average number of new confirmed cases in
Beijing had dropped markedly to an average 13.2 per day from about a
hundred a day just last month.
“It’s fair to say
the situation of SARS in Beijing has taken a noticeable downward
trend,” said Cai Fuchao, director of publicity for the city.
But he warned Beijing
will need to adopt stricter measures to fight SARS and that the public
must stay on guard to prevent a recurrence, especially as people’s
fears ease and more residents go shopping, eat out and pupils start
going back to school.
“We think this
“new situation’ presents a very serious challenge,” said Cai,
also an official of the city’s anti-SARS joint task force.
The country’s
state-controlled media meanwhile reported that the central province of
Henan has punished 800 officials, health workers and others for
failing to perform their duties to control the spread of SARS.
