SARS latest

[owenkrout]

Shenyang eased up on the entry restrictions and our daughter was able to come home yesterday. That is the good news.

 

The bad news is that, as is common in China, it was mostly show. A way of appearing to be doing something about SARS without taking the really necessary steps.

 

It was on the Shenyang TV news this morning that there is a person from Beijing that they think has SARS. He was at first trying to hide out and then refusing to go to the hospital and was staying at home. The Liaoning government took the really strong measure of mailing him a notice that if he didn't go to the hospital he and his family would die. He finally gave himself up yesterday. Now all this time he was infecting everyone around him and possibly setting up another Amoy Gardens situation and the government still has done nothing about quarantine for those he was in contact with.

 

If he really has SARS, then Shenyang is in for an outbreak like Beijing or Hong Kong. Most of the early Hong Kong cases where traced back to one individual who was not isolated because at that time they thought he had regualar pneumonia.

 

The result is that there are quite a few foreigners bugging out of Shenyang next week. I have four personal friends on their way out and several that are seriously thinking about it. The number of flights out of Shenyang are steadily reducing. Even Russia has put heavy restrictions on border crossing and flights out of China.

 

At the Beijing press conference two days ago the mayor was very insulted by a question about the violence in the rural areas because of SARS and said it never happened. If that is so, why are people being arrested for taking part in the non-existent protests?

 

May 10, 11:50 PM (ET)

 

BEIJING (Reuters) - Police in northern China have detained at least nine people for taking part in violent protests against plans to build a SARS clinic in their neighborhood, the official Xinhua news agency said.

They were suspected of assaulting police, destroying property or looting during a series of riots in the northern coastal city of Tianjin, Xinhua reported late on Saturday.

 

Tianjin, with seven deaths and 149 cases of the flu-like disease, is the latest city in China where residents have overturned cars, raided hospitals or blocked roads to prevent the building of SARS clinics or stop the return of migrant workers.

 

The World Health Organisation has advised against travel to the industrial city, located about one hour's drive from Beijing, the city with the world's highest number of SARS cases.

 

Xinhua said three suspects incited more than 300 residents to gather at a medical unit construction site in the Hongqiao district in early May. They used telephone poles and bricks to block the road leading to the clinic.

 

They also forced the driver of a truck piled with building materials to dump his load, causing a severe traffic jam, it said.

 

Dozens of protests have broken out across China in the past two weeks in cities and villages where people fear the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Disease to their neighborhoods.

 

At least 235 people have died from SARS in China and more than 4,800 have been infected. Health services in much of China's vast countryside are ill-equipped to treat the virus, much less handle a major outbreak.

 

China's new leaders headed by President Hu Jintao worry that SARS-related protests, especially in China's rural areas, will erode its jealously guarded bedrock of social stability and pose a serious political challenge to the new administration.

 

The State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) said in an urgent notice on Saturday that irregular price rises on anti-SARS drugs and related goods had spilled over to rural areas.

 

In some villages, the prices of medical products have risen sharply, and officials have charged farmers excessive fees in the name of quarantine or health inspections, Xinhua quoted the commission as saying.

[ChinaRose]

Wonderful to hear that your daughter is back home where she is safe.

 

[Myles]

Aloha from Hawaii,

Thanks for the up dates Owen. This is a case where no news is bad news.

You are the only reliable source of information I have on this subject.

Myles aka Annakuen'GG

[Mick]

Glad to hear that your daughter was allowed to return home. Li and I often talk about you and your family there and we are concerned to say the least. Recently got word that yet another foreign teacher has bugged out of Shantou University and two others, both friends of mine, have left Shenzhen. Thanks for your updates Owen. As you know, Li and I have many friends in China and we worry about all of them. Your posts are helpful to us. But please, don't hesitate to put on your ruby slippers and get back to Kansas post-haste if the situation deteriorates.

[tonado]

I read that one should wear eyeglasses to protect against SARS since the virus can reach the eyes. My sister said that in Taiwan, people couldn't buy any face mask. So they are wearing bras to cover their faces.

[Mick]

I read that one should wear eyeglasses to protect against SARS since the virus can reach the eyes. My sister said that in Taiwan, people couldn't buy any face mask.  So they are wearing bras to cover their faces.

Even the men???

[tparrent]

I read that one should wear eyeglasses to protect against SARS since the virus can reach the eyes.   My sister said that in Taiwan, people couldn't buy any face mask.  So they are wearing bras to cover their faces.

 

 

Well, at least people are being reasonable now and not giving in to panic

[tonado]

Bras mask

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[This is the print version of story ]http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s850738.htm]

 

Bras replace SARS masks

Villagers in southern Taiwan are strapping bras to their faces to guard against the deadly SARS virus due to a shortage of surgical masks.

 

"I went to every pharmacy in the village and it's impossible to find a proper mask," a middle-aged man told cable television, his face partially covered by a dark red cup.

 

"Somebody came up with this idea so I decided to give it a try," he said at a village near the southern city of Tainan.

 

A small bra factory is producing the make-shift masks, with workers cutting each of its colourful bras into two and sewing on extra straps to help the desperate villagers.

 

Face masks have disappeared from many store shelves as Taiwan's severe acute respiratory syndrome infections tripled in the past two weeks to 360 cases.

 

That is the third highest rate in the world after China and Hong Kong.

[wolf]

I heard from a friend yesterday that Hong Kong is also having trouble finding masks. My girl in ShenZhen says that most people are staying home, but all shops are open and she hasn't seen many people wearing masks. I will be going in a few weeks and will bring some masks and antibacterial wipes, for the bus and taxi. Just hope I don't get stuck in Hong Kong trying to cross the border to ShenZhen, once I get to ShenZhen I don't care if I am confined to the house, her house that is.

[Mick]

I heard from a friend yesterday that Hong Kong is also having trouble finding masks. My girl in ShenZhen says that most people are staying home, but all shops are open and she hasn't seen many people wearing masks. I will be going in a few weeks and will bring some masks and antibacterial wipes, for the bus and taxi. Just hope I don't get stuck in Hong Kong trying to cross the border to ShenZhen, once I get to ShenZhen I don't care if I am confined to the house, her house that is.

Good luck and have a safe trip Wolf. I have many friends and former students in Shenzhen. Please keep us posted as to how things are going there.

[wolf]

Thanks Mick,

If she will let me use her computer while I am there I will keep all informed about sars and also anything I can find out at GZ. I will try to visit the consulate and see what is new.

Wolf

[Myles]

Aloha from Hawaii,

My wife is in Shenzhen at this time. It is a safe zone in China. It seems the health

risk is related to the public health of the city. Shenzhen is a new city and is a clean

city. There have not reported any any new SARS cases for about a month.

Myles aka Annakuen'GG

[Mick]

Aloha from Hawaii,

My wife is in Shenzhen at this time.  It is a safe zone in China.  It seems the health

risk is related to the public health of the city.  Shenzhen is a new city and is a clean

city.  There have not reported any any new SARS cases for about a month.

Myles aka Annakuen'GG

This is great news Myles. Let's pray it remains a safe haven.