Singapore's press quotes Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong as saying that the country's tourism business will "suffer very much" from the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). More than 800 people who may have come into contact with 74 patients have been quarantined here. Two patients have died.
Russia, Indonesia and Canada have already warned their citizens about the danger of traveling to Singapore. A much greater risk of contracting the SARS virus exists in China and the former Hong Kong, where travel is not recommended by the Russian State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision and doctors from other countries.
The Hong Kong administration regards the situation as an epidemic, which has already had consequences for the local tourism business. Hotels are 60% full instead of the usual 90. Moreover, thousands of fans of the Rolling Stones did not come here, as the band canceled a recent concert over fears of contracting "atypical pneumonia".
And the World Health Organization is urging all international airports in Asia to screen every passenger. The unknown disease, against which antibiotics are powerless, has already affected 13 countries in Asia, Europe and North America. The number of patients is approaching one and a half thousand.