ABC News (Australia):

Nearly 19,000 people are now under quarantine in the Chinese capital as it battles the SARS crisis, the Beijing Government said.

As of 12:00pm (AEST) yesterday, 18,608 were quarantined, an increase of 323 from the previous day.

So far, 10,571 people have been released from isolation, the Beijing foreign affairs office said in a statement.

10:22:41 PM    comment []  

Taiwan News by Lisa Wang:

Financial services sector and government departments are hunting for secondary office space fearing the spread of sever acute respiratory syndrome infection could cause the suspension of business activities, said office leasing agents and a government official yesterday. ...

SARS jitters have forced corporations and government departments to take further steps against the illness - many are searching for a secondary office to guarantee operations can continue if departments or buildings that are normally used are quarantined.

9:12:34 PM    comment []  

NewsMax.com :

Although the etiology of SARS, the disease, with its mysterious "super-carriers" and penchant to strike down more men than women is not fully understood, some economists are beginning to flesh out how the fear of the disease can spread through a global market -- potentially triggering harm as devastating as the modern plague[base ']s clinical fallout.

Asian Development Bank chief economist Ifzal Ali explains the basic scheme, "When SARS hits an economy, it causes uncertainty generated by fear and this has direct and indirect effects like a loss of consumer confidence, tourism suffers, investment drops and government revenue also drops."

The fact that the dreaded disease has struck hardest at China is most unfortunate for the big economic picture, according to a report in Business Week. If and when a consumer implosion of the magnitude that has hit Hong Kong (50 percent fall) takes root on the Chinese mainland, the ripple effect will travel far and fast.

8:29:46 PM    comment []