Chinese: No need for panic

There’s no need to overreact or panic about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the mystery pneumonia which has claimed the lives of 80 people and infected over 2,000 others.

There are not many new cases occurring in the world every day and most of the existing patients have been quarantined. The likelihood of contracting SARS is minimal. These assurances were given by Counsellor for the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China Dong Xiaojun at a media briefing yesterday at the Embassy, Alexandra Street to respond to local concerns about SARS, “clarify the facts.” He said it is advisable to take precautions but inadvisable to magnify the disease. “SARS is not that scary, much less scary than AIDS.”

To illustrate his point he said SARS has been clinically proven to be less infectious than the common flu. Xiaojun said even with a vaccine and medical care available influenza killed between 250,000 and 500,000 people annually worldwide. While the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a travel warning not to go to Hong Kong and Southern China unless it is necessary, and airlines have experienced a decrease in travellers to these areas, Xiaojun said the Chinese government had SARS under control. He said it is safe to live, work, study and travel in China. The Canton Trade Fair, which is reported to be attended by a delegation of local businessmen is still taking place and international conferences and other activities have not been cancelled.

Highlighting that it is safe to travel to China, Xiaojun said the President of Guyana Bharat Jagdeo visited from March 26 to April 2. By April 6, a total of 1,268 SARS cases were reported in inland China, the majority — 1,203 in the Guangdong province. Xiaojun said the situation there has been improving with the number of cases dropping in March to 36 — a 47.5 percent reduction compared with February. A combination of modern and traditional Chinese medicine is being used to treat SARS cases. Xiaojun said while Guangdong has been hardest hit, when compared with the 80 million people living there, the percentage of infections is very small.

The Chinese government has established a Steering Committee to guide the prevention and control of SARS. An inter-ministerial committee headed by the Deputy Secretary General of the State Council has also been established to coordinate and solve the problem. Xiaojun said the Chinese government and its health experts have been cooperating with the WHO. Xiaojun said it is “irresponsible” to claim that SARS was exported from the Chinese mainland or Hong Kong just as HIV/AIDS did not originate in the US.

Asked about criticism by the Director General of the WHO, Gro Brundland of the Chinese government being slow to release information about the disease, he said the Chinese government has not received a formal complaint from the WHO. Xiaojun said the first case was detected in November and people may have interpreted disease as the common flu.