Progress of The SARS Outbreak - April 2003

April 2003

On April 1, the U.S. government called back non-essential personnel in their consulate office in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The US government also advised US citizens not to travel to the region.

On April 2, Chinese medical officials began reporting the status of the SARS outbreak. China's southern Guangdong province reported 361 new infections and 9 new deaths, increasing the total Mainland China figures previously reported at end-February. The virus was also detected in Beijing and Shanghai. The WHO also advised travelers to avoid Hong Kong and Guangdong during a press briefing.
A Hong Kong boy was also arrested for spreading rumors on the Internet that Hong Kong was being declared an infected area.

On April 3, a WHO team of international scientists landed in Guangzhou from Beijing to discuss with officials, but the team has yet to inspect any suspected origin or any medical facilities on progress of infection control. 15 of the quarantined Amoy Gardens residents at Lei Yue Mun Holiday Camp have been relocated to the Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre after an overnight protest on washroom sharing. The first medical worker infected with SARS died in Hong Kong. The doctor was survived by a daughter and his infected wife who is also among the quarantined medical workers under intensive care. Hong Kong school closure was extended by two weeks to April 21.

On April 4, the WHO team inspected the first infection case in Foshan County. The male infected four people. but he did not infect his family. A 40-year-old woman became the first local case in Shanghai. A Chinese health specialist admitted at a press conference of not informing early enough on the outbreak. The PRC Health Minister also claimed that the disease has been under control in most parts of mainland China. He also released the names of seven drugs which he claimed to be effective in curing SARS. WHO officials said that the information provided by the PRC about the disease has been "very detailed". US government enforced compulsory quarantine of any infected person.

On April 5, the Singapore government announced that school closure will be extended. Junior colleges will reopen on April 9, secondary schools on April 14 and primary schools and pre-schools on April 16.

On April 6 a SARS case was found in Manila, a person who had returned from Hong Kong.

On April 8, SARS starts to plague the Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate near Amoy Gardens in Kowloon. Hong Kong health officials warned that SARS had spread so far domestically and abroad that it was here to stay. Nevertheless, WHO officials remained cautiously optimistic that the disease could still be contained.

On April 9, James Earl Salisbury died of SARS at a hospital in Hong Kong. An American Mormon and a teacher at Shenzhen Polytechnic, he had been sick for approximately one month before his death, but he was originally diagnosed with pneumonia. His son Michael "Mickey" Salisbury was with him in China and also contracted the disease, but he survived it. Salisbury's death led to more open admissions by the Chinese government about the spread of SARS.

On April 10, Dr. Jim Hughes, the head of infectious disease at the CDC, confirming the warnings of Hong Kong health officials, claimed that he believed that SARS could no longer be eradicated in the Far East. However, he remained hopeful that it could be prevented from spreading widely in North America.

On April 11 the World Health Organization issues a global health alert for SARS as it becomes clear the disease was being spread by global air travel.

On April 12, Dr. Marco Marra, director of the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, which is part of the British Columbia Cancer Agency, announced that scientists at his center had broken the genetic code of the virus suspected of causing the disease. In Toronto three more people die of SARS, bringing the Canadian death toll to 13.

On April 16, the WHO issued a press release stating that the coronavirus identified by a number of laboratories was the official cause of SARS. The virus was officially named the SARS virus.

Doctors were surprised to discover the occurrence of at least two cases of SARS in Dinnur, a village near Bangalore, India. Poor hygiene and a lack of adequate trash disposal seemed to have hastened the spread of the deadly disease.

On April 19, Premier of the People's Republic of China Wen Jiabao announced that there would be severe consequences for local officials who do not report SARS cases in a timely and accurate manner, signalling at a major change in policy. (SARS had also been gaining prominence in the mainland Chinese media; by late April, it had jumped from virtual invisibility onto the front-page, with daily reports from all provinces on new cases and measures.)

On April 20, Beijing mayor Meng Xuenong and health minister of the PRC Zhang Wenkang were replaced respectively by Wang Qishan from Hainan and the former deputy health minister Gao Qiang. They are the first two high rank officials in the PRC to be dismissed because of the fallout of the epidemic. In the news conference chaired by Gao Qiang several hours earlier, the PRC admitted that in Beijing there are more than 300 cases, as opposed to the previous figure of only 37. One day later the figure has increased to 407. Chinese officials also admitted to major underreporting of cases, which were attributed to bureaucratic ineptitude.

April 22: Schools start to reopen in stages in Hong Kong.

On April 23, Beijing announced that all primary and secondary schools will be closed for two weeks. A few days before, some colleges in Peking University had been closed because some students had been infected. The WHO issues travel advisories against Beijing, Toronto, and Shanxi Province.

On April 24, the Hong Kong Government announced a HK$11.8 billion relief package designed to assist Hong Kong's battered tourism, entertainment, retail and catering sectors, consisting of a waiver of tourism- and transport-related licence fees, and HK$1 billion allocated for tourism promotion overseas. The package also includes a salaries tax rebate, and reduced rates.

On April 26, Wu Yi was named Zhang Wenkang's replacement as PRC health minister.

On April 26–27, Chinese authorities closed down theaters, discos, and other entertainment venues in Beijing as the death toll in Beijing continued to rise, threatening to become the worst hit area of the country, eclipsing the Guangdong province. Authorities are bolstered by the fact that the infection rate seems to have declined, with the Guangdong region only exporting 3 new infections over the weekend. The economic impact is becoming dramatic as shops, restaurants, markets, bars, universities, schools and many other businesses have closed, as well as some government ministries and large state banks are working with minimal staff levels.

On April 28, WHO declared the outbreak in Vietnam to be over as no new cases were reported for 20 days.

On April 29, leaders of member countries of ASEAN and the PRC premier held an emergency summit in Bangkok, Thailand in order to address the SARS problem. Among the decisions made were the setting-up of a ministerial-level task force and uniform pre-departure health screening in airports.

On April 30, the World Health Organization lifted the SARS travel warning for Toronto. The decision was made because "it is satisfied with local measures to stop the spread of SARS". Canadian officials say they will step up screenings at airports .