OK, I think now "the West" is finally caught up to the news on this virus. This SARS virus has only been in east and south-east asian news for two weeks. (The journal entry title came from a newspaper cartoon a week ago when local schools were closed as a precaution.)

The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus has been found to be related to the crown-shaped flu virus, might have crossed over to humans from livestock in the Guangdong province, China, and is also referred to as "atypical pneumonia" in Hong Kong, because people there were sensitive to the name "SARS" when Hong Kong itself is referred to as SAR, the Special Administrative Region (of China).

Hong Kong has unfortunately been the confluence for people importing and exporting the disease to other parts of asia and the world. Human air traffic is high in east asia; south-east asia especially is a small region of many little countries and international people linked through business and family ties.

The Singapore situation: Out of 4 million people, 96 people have been infected, and there have been 4 deaths. Singapore is the first country to have ordered schools to be closed, which the government was reluctant to do at first, but in hindsight, was a good measure that has now been copied elsewhere. The kids here got a 10-day holiday starting last week that will last till April 6. The local SARS-infected have been confined to a single hospital here, and all visitation to the patients there is disallowed. This was especially important after quite a few people visiting the hospital, not even to see the SARS-infected, got sick. This "hole" in the containment of the virus is probably the main worry here now, besides the fear that someone else coming in from China or Hong Kong may get past the people on the look-out at the airport.

What's bad: they suspect that the virus is airborne now. Even hospital staff who took precautions with masks, gowns and gloves have been infected. The upside is a serum obtained from recovering patients has been found to help (to an extent) other patients. The virus can only survive 3 hours in the open.

There was a SARS story in the paper today that sounded almost like an urban legend, about how the virus was contained in Hanoi. After a treating SARS case, some hospital doctors and nurses who in turn found themselves infected with the virus, voluntarily locked themselves away in the hospital and refused all contact to the world outside. Well, their self-sacrifice was found to have paid off, no one else there caught it after that.

The world needs more selfless people like these.

Currently listening to:
Simple Minds' Glittering Prize

Currently reading:
Catherine Lim's The Bondmaid
Beginning PHP4 (to help me sleep)

Currently working on: