SARS kills 12 in Hong Kong; Singapore worried about economy

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong reported a record 12 deaths in a single day from the SARS virus Saturday, while Singapore's leader warned that the outbreak could become the worst economic crisis his city-state has ever faced.

The concern over severe acute respiratory syndrome is so strong that Vietnam was considering closing its border with China, where the disease is believed to have originated. The global death toll hit at least 185, with at least 3,000 people infected so far.

Hong Kong had 81 of those deaths -- or about 44 percent -- and was becoming the global epicenter for the disease, for which there is no proven cure.

Critics wonder whether mainland China was covering up information about the disease because it has reported just 67 SARS deaths. Premier Wen Jiabao demanded timely and honest reporting of SARS cases after China was accused of hiding the real number of infections within its borders.

"Anyone who covers up SARS cases or delays the release of information will be harshly punished," Wen was quoted as saying in Saturday's China Daily, a state-run English-language newspaper.

Singapore's prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, said Saturday the SARS outbreak could become the worst economic crisis the city-state has ever faced. He also announced tough new measures to try to contain SARS, including prison sentences for people who defy quarantine orders.

"SARS will knock you backward, it may even kill you, but I can tell you SARS can kill the economy and all of us will be killed by the collapsing economy," he said.

Hong Kong tried to calm its 6.8 million residents Saturday by launching a cleanup campaign also intended to reassure international companies that the territory is a safe place to do business.

The Hong Kong health secretary, Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong, put on rubber gloves to stir up a mixture of water and bleach -- which can kill the SARS virus -- and then started scrubbing the floor of a downtown vegetable market.

"Personal hygiene and environmental hygiene are two important objectives," Yeoh said.

One surprised stall owner said she saw Yeoh many times on television during the SARS crisis but the mop-wielding health chief looked skinny in person -- perhaps from working too hard.

Yeoh wore no surgical mask as he cleaned the floor, and then used rags to wipe the sides of an escalator. Many others in the cleanup crew were masked, hoping to avoid SARS.

The Hong Kong environment secretary, Sarah Liao, drank tea at a Chinese restaurant at Telford Gardens, a housing development that is home to several SARS patients, to show it was safe.

But after putting on its best public face, Hong Kong later reported 31 new SARS cases Saturday for a total of 1,358. The 12 new deaths were a daily record in Hong Kong, but officials tried to emphasize that far more patients were recovering than dying, with another 41 people discharged. That increase the number of people released in Hong Kong after being diagnosed to 363.

Yeoh and several doctors who have been tackling the outbreak met with reporters Saturday afternoon and repeated assurances that 95 percent of SARS patients fully recover.

The majority of those who have died -- 68 percent -- suffered from other chronic illnesses such as heart disease or diabetes, said Dr. Yu Wai-cho, a hospital consultant. Almost a third were over 75, Yu said, explaining a breakdown of SARS deaths reported through Tuesday.

Throughout hard-hit parts of Asia, and places trying to avoid the illness entirely, the fight against SARS escalated.

Vietnam was considering closing its 830-mile northern border with China because of the deadly disease, state-controlled media reported. The Ministry of Health also proposed that visitors from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Canada obtain health certificates showing they are free of SARS in order to enter Vietnam, it said.

Five medical workers have died of SARS in Vietnam, where more than 60 SARS cases have been reported.

Air India decided to suspend flights to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia on Monday because the pilots' union fears the SARS virus, reports said.

Thailand, which previously required all visitors to wear surgical masks, claimed it had the illness under control.

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 on that flight to contact health authorities. The flight attendant is in stable condition at a Hong Kong hospital.