UN: As the death toll from the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome)virus continues to mount, a team of UN infectious disease experts began an investigation into the original outbreak of the mysterious illness in southern China.
As the World Health Organization (WHO) team arrived in Guangdong province, epicentre of the virus outbreak, China, Hong Kong and Singapore each reported another death from the disease.
A seventh SARS death was also reported in Canada, where CBC radio quoted Ontario's public security commissioner, Dr James Young, as saying a 57-year-old woman had died late on Wednesday of the disease.
Provincial health officials said a man in Hunan province had become China's 47th SARS fatality, while in Hong Kong the authorities said the death toll had risen to 17 with the death of a 56-year-old doctor. A 78-year-old woman became the fifth victim of SARS in Singapore, where 100 cases have been reported and schools are closed until April 6th.
As the latest fatalities took the worldwide death toll to over 80, the impact of the outbreak continued to be felt around the globe in the form of travel bans, mass cancellations and gloomy economic predictions. Canada, where 160 possible cases have been reported, put two Toronto residents in enforced isolation, Hong Kong announced that a schools closure would be extended until April 21st and possible cases of the disease emerged in places as distant as Fiji and Brazil.
Taiwan banned civil servants from visiting SARS-affected areas and Thailand barred legislators from any foreign travel. Germany and Japan joined the growing list of countries advising against travel to Hong Kong and Guangdong and more airlines announced they were reducing the number of flights to Asia.
Taiwan cancelled a music festival, an Australian school choir dropped a tour of China and a French warship abandoned plans to make a port visit in Thailand after learning the crew may face 14 days in quarantine.
Singapore postponed the annual Rugby Sevens tournament, due to be held later this month, to an unspecified date.
Economists, meanwhile, were busy downgrading growth estimates for Asian economies as the virus, which has infected more than 2,400 people around the world, wreaked havoc on the tourism and airline industries. - (AFP)