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CNN Live At Daybreak
International News Desk
Aired April 23, 2003 - 06:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there's no way to predict where SARS will spread and health officials in the United States must stay vigilant in their fight against the deadly disease.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIE GERBERDING, CDC DIRECTOR: The last thing that we can do at this point in time is relax and say well, thank goodness we don't have very many probable cases in the United States and therefore maybe we're not ever going to have any subsequent spread so that we don't need to be doing the things that we're doing now. This is exactly the time where we need to continue to do what we're doing and learn our lessons from what we are observing in the other countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The World Health Organization says there are now 3,947 cases reported worldwide and there have been a reported 229 deaths from the disease throughout the world.
The worldwide impact of SARS, the many questions about it and how CNN covers the story is the subject of this morning's chat with our senior international editor David Clinch -- good morning, David.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So I think that we need to put this in perspective and try to figure out how serious this is.
CLINCH: Right. Well, it's a very difficult question. I mean a lot of people have been asking me here, you know, both at CNN and outside, you know, how serious is this SARS thing? And unfortunately it's one of those questions which just doesn't have a simple answer. It is not that serious in terms of how many people are affected and dying compared to other diseases, but the problem really is that we do not know and the experts do not know how it's spreading exactly, how quickly it's spreading and how to treat it precisely.
They have made some progress, although it remains to be seen, we are hearing today in Beijing that the studies there are showing that it's mutating already. The virus in one part of China is already different than it is in another part of China. That obviously creates serious problems. And as the CDC is saying here in the United States, because there are so many questions, the problem is that we are covering the story in a way that in some degree over dramatizes it, makes it, you know, seem more scary than it actually is. It's not...
COSTELLO: Well, I think, too, it's getting more scary because it's coming closer to home. For example, it's now seen in Toronto.
CLINCH: Absolutely, in Canada. And it's scary, I think, because there are so many questions. And to give you an example of how we are covering it and how coverage of the story works globally, in Beijing, for instance, in China, where at first they were accused of not reporting...
COSTELLO: Covering it up.
CLINCH: .... on the story, they have now gone to the extent that the media is covering it so much that there's a mini panic in Beijing today, that people are getting on trains and getting out of Beijing. The schools have been closed for two weeks.
Now, I doubt that you'd see a similar thing here in the United States if reporting continues on the story. But, you know, there is that delicate balance between trying to answer the questions which, again, at this point, even the experts say they do not have the answers and at the same time not causing a panic.
So it's a very interesting story and one we need to stay focused on.
COSTELLO: Absolutely so.
CLINCH: But not a panic yet, as far as we're concerned.
COSTELLO: And that's a good thing.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: David Clinch, many thanks to you.
CLINCH: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 23, 2003 - 06:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there's no way to predict where SARS will spread and health officials in the United States must stay vigilant in their fight against the deadly disease.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIE GERBERDING, CDC DIRECTOR: The last thing that we can do at this point in time is relax and say well, thank goodness we don't have very many probable cases in the United States and therefore maybe we're not ever going to have any subsequent spread so that we don't need to be doing the things that we're doing now. This is exactly the time where we need to continue to do what we're doing and learn our lessons from what we are observing in the other countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The World Health Organization says there are now 3,947 cases reported worldwide and there have been a reported 229 deaths from the disease throughout the world.
The worldwide impact of SARS, the many questions about it and how CNN covers the story is the subject of this morning's chat with our senior international editor David Clinch -- good morning, David.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So I think that we need to put this in perspective and try to figure out how serious this is.
CLINCH: Right. Well, it's a very difficult question. I mean a lot of people have been asking me here, you know, both at CNN and outside, you know, how serious is this SARS thing? And unfortunately it's one of those questions which just doesn't have a simple answer. It is not that serious in terms of how many people are affected and dying compared to other diseases, but the problem really is that we do not know and the experts do not know how it's spreading exactly, how quickly it's spreading and how to treat it precisely.
They have made some progress, although it remains to be seen, we are hearing today in Beijing that the studies there are showing that it's mutating already. The virus in one part of China is already different than it is in another part of China. That obviously creates serious problems. And as the CDC is saying here in the United States, because there are so many questions, the problem is that we are covering the story in a way that in some degree over dramatizes it, makes it, you know, seem more scary than it actually is. It's not...
COSTELLO: Well, I think, too, it's getting more scary because it's coming closer to home. For example, it's now seen in Toronto.
CLINCH: Absolutely, in Canada. And it's scary, I think, because there are so many questions. And to give you an example of how we are covering it and how coverage of the story works globally, in Beijing, for instance, in China, where at first they were accused of not reporting...
COSTELLO: Covering it up.
CLINCH: .... on the story, they have now gone to the extent that the media is covering it so much that there's a mini panic in Beijing today, that people are getting on trains and getting out of Beijing. The schools have been closed for two weeks.
Now, I doubt that you'd see a similar thing here in the United States if reporting continues on the story. But, you know, there is that delicate balance between trying to answer the questions which, again, at this point, even the experts say they do not have the answers and at the same time not causing a panic.
So it's a very interesting story and one we need to stay focused on.
COSTELLO: Absolutely so.
CLINCH: But not a panic yet, as far as we're concerned.
COSTELLO: And that's a good thing.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: David Clinch, many thanks to you.
CLINCH: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
