Hong Kong: Victims of disease will not be allowed to leave the city
Hong Kong has decided that victims of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) will not be allowed to leave the city, as from today.
The city has reported five more deaths and 42 new cases of the disease over the weekend, while worldwide there have also been more cases discovered. There have been three more deaths in Canada in recent days. As from this morning, all passengers heading out of Hong Kong will have their temperatures taken.
The Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific has denies rumours that it is going to ground its fleet as a result of the outbreak, after a leaked memo revealed the carrier is losing as much as US$3million a day because of SARS. However, the airline’s director of corporate development Tony Tyler told The Times: “If demand falls still further we will have to respond accordingly.”
Meanwhile, many British firms who have employees returning from affected areas are being told to stay at home for 10 days before returning to work.
