Beijing Schools Shut Due to Sars Fears

Struggling to contain a recent jump in the number of Sars cases, officials in the Chinese capital, Beijing, today announced that they will shut down public schools for two weeks to keep students from spreading the disease.

The school closures begin tomorrow and will affect 1.7 million students in a city where severe acute respiratory syndrome has already killed 35 people.

An official of the Beijing municipal education commission said tests for primary, junior high and high school students were postponed indefinitely. The Beijing Morning News said students with internet access would receive lessons at home, and teachers would be required to come to work to supervise their studies.

China released the latest figures for the disease today, reporting that another 147 people had contracted Sars and nine had died. The vast majority of the new cases were in Beijing. The health ministry said the total number of Sars infections nationwide rose to 2,305, while the number of deaths rose to 106.

In Shanghai, officials said they will shut down a popular car show tomorrow, three days earlier than planned, as a public health measure.

The show's organisers said in a statement: "Now is a crucial period in preventing Sars. The government has decided to safeguard people's health and close the show early." There have been 10 suspected cases of Sars in Shanghai and two confirmed cases.

Sars has sickened more than 4,000 people worldwide and killed at least 236, with the majority of cases and deaths in mainland China and Hong Kong.

Officials in Hong Kong said today that the Sars death toll rose to 105 as the flu-like disease claimed six more lives. Another 24 people were reported to be infected, bringing the total number of cases in Hong Kong to 1,458.

The World Health Organisation said today that it plans to investigate claims in a Hong Kong government report that Sars has spread by sewage leaks, personal contact or even cockroaches and rats.

WHO imposed a travel warning against Hong Kong after a disturbingly virulent outbreak in an apartment complex, the Amoy Gardens. More than 300 residents were infected and 14 died.

The government report released last week said sewage leaks, personal contact and other factors, including rats and cockroaches that picked up the Sars virus on their bodies, may have caused the spread.

WHO wants a "complete and satisfactory understanding" of what happened at Amoy Gardens, as well as evidence a repeat is unlikely before the travel advisory is lifted, spokesman Peter Cordingley said from the agency's regional office in Manila.

The Geneva-based WHO also needs to see Hong Kong's daily infection numbers coming down, Mr Cordingley said.

Hong Kong government officials say the numbers are already dropping steadily, though the daily tally remains in the double digits. The economic effect of the disease on Hong Kong has been devastating.