Sars travel alert extended

Sars travel alert extended

Schools are closing in some part of China, affecting millions of pupils

International travellers are being advised not to visit Toronto, Beijing and China's Shanxi province because of the danger of Sars.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has added the three destinations to Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province as it tries to halt the spread of the deadly virus.

The new warning came as it was announced that nine more people had died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome on the Chinese mainland and six in Hong Kong.

WHO figures put the official death toll worldwide at 251.

KNOWN DEATH TOLL

China: 106

Hong Kong: 105

Singapore: 17

Canada: 13

Vietnam: 5

Thailand: 2

Malaysia: 2

Philippines: 1

Source: Latest WHO figures

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Dr David Heymann, WHO's communicable diseases chief, said the three new areas on its advice list had "quite a high magnitude of disease and a great risk of transmission locally - outside of the usual health workers".

He said the areas had also been exporting cases to other countries.

The travel warning will be active for at least three weeks - double the maximum incubation period for Sars, he said.

Speaking in Rome, WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland said the spread of Sars was "a challenge to everyone".

She said Sars was "a new virus disease, a new type, more malignant" and that "every country has to be prepared".

Cluster of cases

The mayor of Toronto, Mel Lastman, expressed fury at the WHO's travel advisory decision.

"I am shocked that the medical evidence before us does not support this advisory," he said.

"I want them here tomorrow to investigate Toronto. I think they are doing this country and this city a disservice. Who did they see? Who did they talk to? This isn't a city in the grip of fear and panic."

The WHO had praised the tough measures taken by Canada's business capital but has seen Sars continue to spread in the community there.

Ontario health officials called WHO's inclusion of Toronto regrettable

"Toronto last week had an exportation which set up a cluster of five cases in health workers in another country," Dr Heymann said.

The authorities in Beijing have meanwhile announced that all the capital's schools will be closed for two weeks in an effort to halt the spread of the virus.

The decision will affect more than 1.7 million children and comes as China struggles to contain an outbreak which officials first tried to play down.

Beijing authorities also announced on Wednesday they plan to quarantine people exposed to Sars and restrict access to buildings where there are infections.

The nine deaths announced in mainland China on Wednesday included seven in Beijing, taking the total to 106 deaths among 2,305 cases.

Shanxi is one of the worst-hit provinces in China and was among the first to report the emergence of Sars cases.

Hong Kong, which has also been hit heavily by the Sars virus, has announced a HK$11.8bn ($1.5bn) economic package to lessen the impact of the outbreak.

The death toll in Hong Kong stands at 105, with the total number of cases at 1,458.

As well as affecting China and Hong Kong, the Sars virus has spread to many other parts of the world, with the total number of cases now put at more than 4,000.

Among other developments:

• More than 100 representatives from the world's airlines hold emergency talks in Bangkok to decide how to tackle the Sars crisis

• Police in Australia are given new powers to round up and quarantine suspected Sars victims

• Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, stops issuing pilgrimage visas to many East Asian countries because of Sars fears

• Singapore's prime minister vows to jail "irresponsible" people who violate quarantine laws

• Despite having no confirmed Sars cases, Japan announces plans to install a thermal imaging camera at Tokyo's international airport to screen passengers

• Tourism continues to suffer, with Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific cutting 45% of its flights and Singapore reporting a 70% fall in visitor arrivals

• Insurance companies express fears that no airplane exists to safely repatriate Sars victims in accordance with international guidelines

Sars appears to be caused by a new strain of the coronavirus, which may have "jumped" from animals to humans in the Chinese province of Guangdong.

Scientific teams are racing to produce a vaccine, but experts have warned that the process is both difficult and time-consuming.

The Beijing Genomics Institute said this week that the virus was "expected to mutate very fast and very easily".

Even when a vaccine is available, it may only offer limited - and temporary - protection, experts have said.