Hong Kong mops up as Sars toll rises

Twelve more Sars patients have died in Hong Kong, pushing the death toll there to 81, officials said today, following a largely symbolic cleanup organised by government leaders struggling to restore the territory's badly tarnished image.

The 12 deaths were the most in a single day in Hong Kong since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome flared up last month. Thirty-one new cases were reported today, bringing the total number of infections in the territory to 1,358.

Seven of the new fatalities were elderly people who had other chronic illnesses, health officials said. But the rest were younger, fitter patients, joining a group of Sars victims whose recent deaths have raised worries about how deadly the little-understood disease can be.

Earlier, Hong Kong's health secretary used a bleached mop and rags to help scrub down a vegetable market during a massive cleanup staged by officials and volunteers in hopes of helping Hong Kong bounce back.

"Personal hygiene and environmental hygiene are two important objectives," Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong said. One surprised stall owner said she had seen Dr Eng-kiong many times on television during the Sars crisis but that the mop-wielding health chief looked skinny in person - perhaps from working too hard.

Dr Eng-kiong wore no surgical mask as he cleaned the floor and wiped the sides of an escalator, but many others in the cleanup did, hoping to avoid Sars.

The environment secretary, Sarah Liao, drank tea at a Chinese restaurant at Telford Gardens, a housing development that has been infected, to show it was safe.

Elsewhere, thousands of volunteers, from housewives to government officials, fanned out to clean housing, restaurants and shopping malls.

Hong Kong's image and economy have taken a bad beating from the Sars outbreak that has severely hit business, tourism and the territory's international reputation.

Air travellers leaving Hong Kong spread the disease to three countries that have now suffered Sars fatalities - Canada, Singapore and Vietnam.

The World Health Organisation has warned people against travelling to Hong Kong. Dr Eng-kiong and several doctors who have been tackling the outbreak met reporters today and repeated assurances that 95% of Sars patients fully recover. Another 41 people have been discharged from hospitals, officials said later on Saturday, bringing that total to 363.

Most of those who have died - 68% - suffered from other chronic illnesses such as heart disease or diabetes, said Dr Yu Wai-cho, a hospital consultant. Almost one-third were over 75, Dr Wai-cho said.

Officials were monitoring all buildings where Sars cases have been reported to try to avoid further big outbreaks, said health director Dr Margaret Chan.

At least 326 people were infected in an outbreak at one apartment complex, the Amoy Gardens. Critics have accused the government of responding too slowly to the crisis. Meanwhile, a male flight attendant who worked on an April 15 Cathay Pacific flight from Singapore to Hong Kong was confirmed to have Sars.

The government urged passengers who took flight CX714 to contact health authorities. The flight attendant is in stable condition at a Hong Kong hospital.