Sars: Tales from two cities

Deserted: Beijing's central Chang-an Avenue

The contagious disease Sars is spreading panic across many parts of Asia and the world.

Scientists warn that a vaccine for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome could be years away, and the World Health Organization has concluded that the best way to tackle it is for governments to act swiftly and forcefully to isolate it.

In many places, that has resulted in blanket quarantining, masks being worn almost round-the-clock, the sudden asphyxiation of local economies - and of course a pervasive fear of contagion.

How are ordinary people in two of the worst-affected places, Beijing and Hong Kong, dealing with this sudden new threat to their daily lives?

Obsessive handwashing

"People are very scared of Sars," said Tu Yong, 24, who works in an English-language school in Beijing.

"They think if you get it there's no way you can survive. People don't talk to each other - if you go to the supermarket, you talk to the shop assistant but they don't want to talk back."

Until such time as the retail confidence returns, it's a city in fear, I suppose, is the word

Mike Walsh
Bar owner, Hong Kong

Personal hygiene, she says, has become almost obsessive.

"Now you find people who wash their hands very often, maybe 20 times in one day, and touch their foreheads every half an hour to check if they have a temperature.

"Even me - I cough once and start worrying."

The government has shut down entertainment venues such as cinemas and internet cafes, and the city feels fearful and dead, said another Beijing resident braving the city streets

But no-one is blaming the government.

"I think everyone can understand the government's position," she said, without giving her name.

"At this time, people should stay home and not go out. Today I have to go out because I have something urgent to handle but I think what the government's doing is understandable."

'Too late?'

In Hong Kong, more than 130 people have died from the disease and the city - one of the most cosmopolitan business districts in the world - has seen visitor numbers plummet.

"It may already be too late for some businesses," says Mike Walsh, an expatriate bar owner.

Pervasive: Fear of Sars pervades everyday life

"If it doesn't clear within two or three months, all hell could break loose. It is a very major concern, obviously. The tourists are not here, a lot of the locals are staying home.

"Until such time as the retail confidence returns, it's a city in fear, I suppose, is the word."

Eleanor, a Filipino domestic service worker, says her husband at home in the Philippines is desperate for her to go home but she has practical concerns.

"He asked me to go back home but I said, 'Wait for a moment,' because I haven't told my employer and I need to give notice. It's not that easy to just go home. So, I asked him to calm down.

'Overblown'

"I feel safe anyway," she says, "because I always wear a mask when I go out."

Roger, a trader in the city, says concerns about Sars have been blown out of all proportion.

"It's totally exaggerated in the foreign press. I'm here right in the middle of the night-club district in Hong Kong, we're doing what we did five years ago in the teeth of a bull run.

"Forget all the headlines in the press... The number of infected people has stabilised at 30 a day. We're looking at deaths of about 5%. It really is overblown."