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CNN Live At Daybreak
SARS Scare: More Deaths in China
Aired April 25, 2003 - 06:12 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 SARS epidemic has shown no signs of stopping. China is now reporting more deaths, and authorities in Taiwan have now quarantined more than 1,000 doctors, nurses and patients in an attempt to halt the spread.
CNN's Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz on the phone with more on the respiratory illness.
Good morning -- Jaime.
JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
No happy news coming out of China today where the Health Ministry reported 5 more new SARS death and 180 new cases nationwide. More than half of these new cases are in Beijing. The Chinese official today said that they will spend something like $420 million to spend to set up a nationwide health network to fight SARS and other medical emergencies.
Now to cut the chain of SARS outbreak in Beijing, the city officials have ordered 4,000 people to stay at home under quarantine. They are suspected to have had close contact with SARS patients. This follows the closure of a major hospital in Beijing, again, due to SARS outbreaks.
Now these draconian measures are meant to contain the spread of SARS, but they are also prompting panic buying in some areas among people who fear that there could be food shortage or forced quarantine. Rumors are circulating on the Internet and mobile phones here, some claiming that the city authorities are planning to declare marshal law or to close the city airports and highways. Now a city government spokesman today dismissed them as mere rumors -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Understand, but those people who have been quarantined to their homes, how long do they have to stay inside?
FLORCRUZ: Well the estimate is about 10 days. That's just about the range of the incubation period of SARS. It could be as short as three days or 12 days, an average of 10 days. So they will probably be at home, quarantined at home for about 10 days -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jaime FlorCruz reporting live by phone from Beijing this morning.
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 25, 2003 - 06:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The SARS epidemic has shown no signs of stopping. China is now reporting more deaths, and authorities in Taiwan have now quarantined more than 1,000 doctors, nurses and patients in an attempt to halt the spread.
CNN's Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz on the phone with more on the respiratory illness.
Good morning -- Jaime.
JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
No happy news coming out of China today where the Health Ministry reported 5 more new SARS death and 180 new cases nationwide. More than half of these new cases are in Beijing. The Chinese official today said that they will spend something like $420 million to spend to set up a nationwide health network to fight SARS and other medical emergencies.
Now to cut the chain of SARS outbreak in Beijing, the city officials have ordered 4,000 people to stay at home under quarantine. They are suspected to have had close contact with SARS patients. This follows the closure of a major hospital in Beijing, again, due to SARS outbreaks.
Now these draconian measures are meant to contain the spread of SARS, but they are also prompting panic buying in some areas among people who fear that there could be food shortage or forced quarantine. Rumors are circulating on the Internet and mobile phones here, some claiming that the city authorities are planning to declare marshal law or to close the city airports and highways. Now a city government spokesman today dismissed them as mere rumors -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Understand, but those people who have been quarantined to their homes, how long do they have to stay inside?
FLORCRUZ: Well the estimate is about 10 days. That's just about the range of the incubation period of SARS. It could be as short as three days or 12 days, an average of 10 days. So they will probably be at home, quarantined at home for about 10 days -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jaime FlorCruz reporting live by phone from Beijing this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
