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ong Kong school doors back open
Some normalcy returns in SARS-stricken country
By Dirk Beveridge
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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HONG KONG — Hong
(ong reopened most secondary
ichools Tuesday three weeks
after they were closed to keep
the SARS virus from spreading,
nit thousands of students in sur-
ical masks were walking proof
he territory still has a long way
ogo.
The daily number of new
SARS cases here has declined in
ecent days, but World Health
Organization officials say that is
lot enough to consider the dis
ease under control.
At the same time, Hong
Kong reported five new deaths
itesday, bringing the total to
[99. Most officials have consis
tently avoided any predictions
about when they might over
come the worst disaster here in
years, despite Chief Executive
Tung Chee-hwa’s expression of
optimism Monday.
He said the former British
colony was “slowly, but surely
getting the figures stabilized”
after quarantining households of
SARS patients and tracking
down more possible contacts.
But experts say they are
looking for a sharp and sus
tained drop in new infections —
lasting for weeks, not just days
— that would show severe acute
respiratory syndrome is coming
under control.
The WHO says there are sev
eral signs needed to indicate the
outbreak is finally contained:
when the spread in the local
community is stemmed; when
no new infections have been
exported to other countries for a
certain amount of time; when
the total number of cases falls to
a certain level; and when the
number of new infections
detected each day is under a par
ticular number.
WHO officials
have not deter
mined what the
required thresh
olds are, but they
expect to have
that worked out
within the next
few days, said Dr.
David Heymann,
WHO’s commu
nicable diseases
chief.
Dr. Lo Wing-
lok, president of
the Hong Kong
Medical Association and an
infectious disease expert, said
he believed “in three months
time Hong Kong can return to
almost normal, not completely
normal.”
Even then, Hong Kong might
continue to have sporadic cases,
he said.
Health Secretary Dr. Yeoh
Eng-kiong acknowledged
Tuesday that SARS “is going to
be with us for some time.”
“We do not anticipate that it
will be eradicated completely,
because it’s a highly infectious
virus,” he said.
We do not
anticipate that it
will be eradicated
completely, because
it’s a highly
infectious virus
And although some 200,000
Hong Kong secondary students
went back Tuesday to schools
closed since March 9, some
administrators refused to open.
Some students, too, were
fearful. Tom Leung was
annoyed that only some grades
had to go back and accused
authorities of treating him and
classmates as
“lab mice.”
Another
9 0 0,0 0 0
younger stu
dents are
expected to
return to class
Monday.
Hong Kong
still is feeling
the sting of the
WHO advisory
urging against
travel there. The
de facto Hong
Kong airline,
Cathay Pacific Airways,
announced more temporary cuts
in service Tuesday, saying it
now has scrapped 281 flights —
about 45 percent of its schedule
— due to a plunge in traffic
believed to be costing it $3 mil
lion a day.
An estimated 4,000 people
worldwide have been infected
by SARS, and the WHO reports
at least 229 deaths, mostly in
Asia. The United States reports
just 38 probable cases and no
deaths.
Even if new infections keep
tapering off in Hong Kong,
— Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong
Hong Kong doctor
some experts fear the territory’s
proximity to mainland China,
where the disease is believed to
have originated and is still
spreading, could complicate
matters.
Dr. Henk Bekedam, the chief
WHO representative in China,
said Tuesday he was especially
worried about SARS in the
mainland’s poorer western
provinces, where “the public
health system has collapsed in
the last 10 or 20 years because
the government has not support
ed it.”
If mainland China cannot
control the disease, he said, “it
will be very problematic to deal
with it globally. Diseases like
this do not respect borders.”
Hit by international criticism
that it covered up information
about SARS and aggravated the
outbreak, Chinese officials
appear to be making bolder pub
lic efforts to contain the disease.
One example was a radio mes
sage broadcast across Beijing
seeking two taxi drivers, who
may have contracted the virus
from an infected “male passen
ger dressed in a long green mil
itary-style coat,” the state-run
Xinhua News Agency reported
Tuesday.
Both drivers eventually were
found, Xinhua said without
elaboration.
Mainland China reported 11
new deaths Tuesday, pushing its
toll to 97 as its number of SARS
cases surged well past 2,000,
according to Xinhua.
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Arafat faces off against
prime minister-designate
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Yasser
Arafat defied international pressure
Tuesday by challenging his prime minis
ter-designate over Cabinet appointments
even at the risk of scuttling a U.S.-backed
NEWS IN BRIEF
plan for Palestinian statehood.
At the root of the turmoil is Arafat's
refusal to share power with Mahmoud
Abbas after decades of unchallenged
leadership, Palestinian legislators and
commentators said.
Abbas, who enjoys the support of inter
national Mideast mediators, has until
Wednesday to present his Cabinet to
Arafat. Without Arafat's blessing, Abbas is
not likely to win approval for the Cabinet
in parliament, where the ruling Fatah party
is siding with Arafat in the current crisis.
President Bush has said he will unveil
an international peace plan, the so-called
"road map" to full Palestinian statehood,
only once Abbas and his Cabinet are
sworn in.
JOB FAIR
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
Calling All Job Seekers!
For more information, Contact:
Bryan College Station
Chamber of Commerce
979-260-5200
Brazos Valley Workforce Center
1-800-386-7200
979-776-7444
Can you afford not to attend
the Brazos Valley Chambers
of Commerce, Brazos Valley
Workforce Centers, KBTX-
TV & Texas A&M sponsored
Part-Time/Full-Time Job
Fair featuring entry-level to
professional job openings?
Saturday, April 26,
9:00 A.M. to 1:00P.M.
Reed Arena
Texas A&M University
d W
icnes
ion
i
EU-U.S. Research
and Public Policy
Symposium
Faculty, staff and students are invited to participate in a
symposium, which will address the linkage between research and
public policy in the EU and the U.S. and offer ideas and suggestions
on building research partnerships with the European Union.
Wednesday, April 23
6 p.m., Panel Discussion:
“The Interface Between Research and
Public Policy in the EU and the U.S.”
Thursday, April 24
8:30 a.m., Panel Discussion:
“Prospects of Research
Collaboration Between the EU and the U.S
Gc P o v
10 a.m., Roundtable Discussions:
Concurrent discussions among Texas A&M faculty, panelists,
and potential research collaborators from EU institutions.
Panelists:
• Dr. Enric Banda, Secretary-General, European Science Foundation
• Dr. Alessandro Damiani, Head of Science, Technology and
Education, Delegation of the European Commission
• Dr. Albert H. Teich, Director of Science & Policy Programs,
American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Dr. Jeanne Hudson, European Union Regional Director, Office of
International Science and Engineering, National Science Foundation
• Dr. William Hallman, Associate Director for the Food
Biotechnology Program, Food Policy Institute, Rutgers University
• Dr. Laurent Buisson, Scientific Attache,
Office for Science and Technology, French Embassy to the U.S.
To be held at:
The Leonore and Walter Annenberg Presidential Conference Center
Bush Presidential Library Complex • Texas A&M University
For more information call 862-6700 or visit:
http://international.tamu.edu/eucenter/Events.htm
No registration required • Admission free
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little Caesars’Pizza
CUSTOMER
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COLLEGE STATION
2501 S. TEXAS AVENUE
696-0191
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No substitutions. Round pizzas only. Limit 5 pizzas. Valid at this Little Caesars location only.
Carryout only. No deliveries. Sorry, no rain checks.