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Shanghai hangs tough despite first
death
By Asia Times Online staff
HONG KONG - On Thursday, Shanghai's health
department announced the first death caused by severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China's largest
city and economic center. The victim, a man, had been
administered myriad treatments for his illness, but to
no avail.
The man was Shanghai's second
clinically diagnosed SARS case, and was also the father
of the woman who was the city's first confirmed
infection. According to the report, he was an elderly
man who was also suffering from another illness.
Although the man had at one point exhibited signs of
recovery, in the end his condition worsened beyond the
point where it could be treated.
As of noon on
Thursday, Shanghai had accumulated a total of six
confirmed SARS cases. Aside from the death, five
patients are still in hospitals. There are also four new
suspected cases, giving Shanghai a total of 34 suspected
cases, two of which are US nationals.
At one
time it was widely suspected outside of Shanghai that
the municipal authorities were concealing a local
epidemic, especially in the wake of the previous coverup
in Beijing, which was admitted by the Chinese capital's
municipal government. But an inspection team sent to
Shanghai by the World Health Organization indicated that
they did not discover any evidence of a coverup by
relevant departments in the municipal government. The
team still issued an alert that the city's health system
had already been stretched thin.
SARS has
already delivered a heavy blow to Shanghai's commercial
sector and tourism industry, as well as its ubiquitous
eateries. Shanghai authorities have beefed up inspection
and quarantine measures in an attempt to curb the spread
of the illness.
The Shanghai government has
already ordered that anyone who has recently visited
Beijing, Shanxi province, Inner Mongolia or Guangdong
province to immediately report to authorities for
quarantine. Emergency announcements have been broadcast
in the streets, in addition to people being sent from
door-to-door to ask if household members have traveled
to China's SARS-affected areas. The municipal government
has admitted that it will have to adopt measures to
assist commercial sectors that have been affected by
SARS, but as of Thursday it had yet to suggest any
concrete assistance packages.
Translated by
Christopher Horton
(©2003 Asia Times
Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for
information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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