HONGKONG - A Hongkong tour group returned early yesterday after being quarantined in a Taipei hotel when a six-year-old girl in the group developed fever last week and was classified as a suspected case of Sars.
The group of 32 returned on a Hongkong government-chartered aircraft and was taken home by bus to remain in a 10-day quarantine until the girl is cleared of Sars.
The girl was taken to hospital for a check-up and then allowed to go home with her parents. -- AFP
13 who spread rumours nabbed
HONGKONG - The Chinese authorities have arrested 13 people in Guangdong for spreading rumours about the Sars epidemic through text messages on mobile phones. One of them was fined 200 yuan (S$43) and detained for 15 days, Wen Wei Po daily said yesterday. -- AFP
4 more suspected cases in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia yesterday reported four more suspected Sars patients, three of whom returned from Singapore and a fourth from China.
One is a 27-year-old technician who worked in Singapore. He is in hospital in Ipoh. Another is a 22-year-old lorry attendant who makes trips to Singapore. He fell ill on April 27 and was admitted to a hospital in Seremban. -- Bernama
Bourses will extend holidays
SHANGHAI - The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and securities regulators announced yesterday they will close until May 12 due to worries that the Sars virus could spread on crowded trading floors.
The scheduled three-day Labour Day holiday starting today will be extended till May 9 to check the further spread of Sars. Trading will resume on May 12. -- AFP
Canada minister asked to resign
TORONTO - Canadian Health Minister Anne McLellan has faced demands for her resignation, even after the World Health Organisation (WHO) lifted a controversial global advisory against travel to Toronto because of the Sars outbreak in the city.
Opposition MPs insisted Ms McLellan resign for refusing to put in place a screening process that WHO had recommended for Toronto's airport on March 27, two weeks after the outbreak took hold, the Canada.com website reported.
India reports nine new cases
BOMBAY - Nine staff members who quarantined themselves in a western Indian hospital have tested positive for Sars, an official said yesterday.
The results at the Siddharth Hospital in Pune nearly doubled the number of cases in India to 19.
Earlier yesterday, Madras reported that a truck driver who returned from Singapore last week has come down with Sars. Mr P. Ezhumalai, 44, was admitted on Friday to the Christian Medical College in Vellore, about 150km south-west of Madras.
Blood sample tests confirmed that he was suffering from Sars, but he has no symptoms now and has 'fully recovered', his doctor said. -- AP
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,186415,00.html
The group of 32 returned on a Hongkong government-chartered aircraft and was taken home by bus to remain in a 10-day quarantine until the girl is cleared of Sars.
The girl was taken to hospital for a check-up and then allowed to go home with her parents. -- AFP
13 who spread rumours nabbed
HONGKONG - The Chinese authorities have arrested 13 people in Guangdong for spreading rumours about the Sars epidemic through text messages on mobile phones. One of them was fined 200 yuan (S$43) and detained for 15 days, Wen Wei Po daily said yesterday. -- AFP
4 more suspected cases in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia yesterday reported four more suspected Sars patients, three of whom returned from Singapore and a fourth from China.
One is a 27-year-old technician who worked in Singapore. He is in hospital in Ipoh. Another is a 22-year-old lorry attendant who makes trips to Singapore. He fell ill on April 27 and was admitted to a hospital in Seremban. -- Bernama
Bourses will extend holidays
SHANGHAI - The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and securities regulators announced yesterday they will close until May 12 due to worries that the Sars virus could spread on crowded trading floors.
The scheduled three-day Labour Day holiday starting today will be extended till May 9 to check the further spread of Sars. Trading will resume on May 12. -- AFP
Canada minister asked to resign
TORONTO - Canadian Health Minister Anne McLellan has faced demands for her resignation, even after the World Health Organisation (WHO) lifted a controversial global advisory against travel to Toronto because of the Sars outbreak in the city.
Opposition MPs insisted Ms McLellan resign for refusing to put in place a screening process that WHO had recommended for Toronto's airport on March 27, two weeks after the outbreak took hold, the Canada.com website reported.
India reports nine new cases
BOMBAY - Nine staff members who quarantined themselves in a western Indian hospital have tested positive for Sars, an official said yesterday.
The results at the Siddharth Hospital in Pune nearly doubled the number of cases in India to 19.
Earlier yesterday, Madras reported that a truck driver who returned from Singapore last week has come down with Sars. Mr P. Ezhumalai, 44, was admitted on Friday to the Christian Medical College in Vellore, about 150km south-west of Madras.
Blood sample tests confirmed that he was suffering from Sars, but he has no symptoms now and has 'fully recovered', his doctor said. -- AP
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,186415,00.html
