SARS

[tonado]

New Worry for China as SARS Hits the Hinterland

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/22/internat...ml?pagewanted=1

[owenkrout]

We had a Chinese friend call to cancel shopping with my wife. She said her husband had went to Beijing yesterday for business and he turned around and came right back home once he got there. He said there were not many people on the streets and people were staying home from work. It scared him, so he returned home. She decided to stay home with him since he had been to an area where he could have caught it.

[owenkrout]

A foreign teacher from there notified us this afternoon that there is a student at Liaoning University that disappeared into the hospital with SARS and now officially doesn't exist.

 

A message from the Shenyang Consulate (there was another one yesterday, but it was the "Be on alert for possible terrorism worldwide" message that is one thing I don't worry about in China):

To American Citizens in the Shenyang Consular District

 

This is one of an occasional series of messages from the U.S. Consulate

General to American citizens registered as living in Northeast China.

 

The following message was provided to employees of the U.S. Mission (which

includes the Embassy in Beijing and Consulates General in Chengdu,

Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang). Effective immediately, the U.S. Mission

is limiting personal travel within China by American employees of the

mission and their family members to only that which can be accomplished

using a car or other personal vehicle. The protection of mission staff and

the mission community at large from the SARS infection remains a primary

concern of the mission. Travel by public conveyance on common carriers,

such as airplanes, trains and buses, unnecessarily increases the risk of

exposure to SARS, at least to some degree. It is with this in mind that the

U.S. Mission is taking this action.

 

Official travel within China continues to be limited to only that which is

considered mission essential.

 

Hospitals in China Designated to Assist Foreigners with SARS

 

A list of hospitals in China designated to assist foreigners with SARS

symptoms, or receive SARS cases has been published on the U.S. Embassy's web

page, at http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/. Viewers can access the list by

clicking on the link entitled, "emergency information." The list is

available under the title "Hospitals in China treating Foreigners with

SARS."

 

I corrected the error in the link information.

[owenkrout]

Of course 6 hours on the train to get to Dalian is probably one of the things that they would tell you not to do....

 

The Consulate General's Public Affairs Officer, Dr. Cynthia Caples, will

host a townhall meeting for American citizens in Dalian on April 24 from

7:30 to 8:30 pm. This is a chance to speak to a Consulate officer about

SARS and other issues of concern. The meeting will be held on the fourth

floor of the Hilton Hotel.

 

Mark Bysfield

Chief, Consular Section

Consulate General Shenyang

 

This email is UNCLASSIFIED based on the provisions of E.O. 12958.

[Mick]

From the varied reports that I have seen, it sounds like things are getting worse. Just read on Yahoo News that all schools in the Haidan (sp?) district of Beijing have been closed. It makes one wonder what is really going on in the hinterland. God, I hope most people stay put for the holidays.

[tonado]

My fiancee talked to me this morning. People in Nanning are getting panic now after hearing from the China news. They are buying surgical masks and a lot of stores are selling out. I told her that surgical masks don't work. They need 3M N95 type. Also, she decided to leave China next month. Initially, her family wanted her to leave in August. So it is good news for me even though SAR is spreading.

[owenkrout]

The news media in Shenyang finally started reporting on SARS, but not admitting to any cases here.

 

CCTV-9 (English language service) said that the figures released at 8:00 Tuesday evening listed 588 cases in Beijing now.