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these handy "jump links" to quickly access the news item
you're
looking for. 1.
Lawmaker makes formal call for Tung's resignation 2.
Hong Kong's Image 3.
Experts agree with Cathay: airplane cabins are not
particularly Sars-friendly 4.
Your Sars Questions Answered 5.
Tung's cabinet under the spotlight 6.
Worldwide Cases
1. Lawmaker makes formal call for Tung's resignation
Ambrose
Leung, SCMP 26 April 2003 Lawmakers
will vote next month on whether Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa should resign, as
criticism of his leadership mounts amid the Sars outbreak. Independent
legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip will move a non-binding motion on May 14 calling
for Mr Tung's resignation. The
vote will come a week after Legco debates a no-confidence motion on Financial
Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung over his involvement in a car-purchasing scandal
that arose after his Gudge. Mr
Tung has been under pressure over his handling of the atypical pneumonia outbreak,
with speculation that China's leadership is losing faith in his ability. The
speculation follows the sacking last Sunday of two senior mainland officials for
failures in dealing with the disease. But
the motion calling for Mr. Tung resignation is unlikely to succeed as it has not
yet received support from any of the major parties. Mr.
Chan said Mr Tung should resign because his administration had been a failure.
2. Hong Kong's Image
Letters
to the Editor, SCMP 26 April 2003 A
question for Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee, chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board,
and Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung: With
the decision announced on Thursday to spend and extra $1 billion of government
funds on promoting Hong Kong, you may wish to clarify whether this will be "Hong
Kong - Asia's World City" and our now famous dragon, or the Hong Kong Tourist
Board's "Hong Kong - City of Life" with it bitty dragon image. Clearly,
now more than ever, solidarity and making the most of our precious funds call
for a single-minded approach to the marketing and promotion of Hong Kong. The
government may wish to make additional funds available subject to the proper use
of Hong Kong's brand. Paul
Zimmerman, Causeway Bay
3. Experts agree with Cathay: airplane cabins are not particularly Sars-friendly
Joseph
Lo, SCMP 26 April 2003 Cathay
Pacific Airways is responding to fears that Sars is spread through air travel
by placing newspaper advertisements in which it pledges to do "everything
in its power to safeguard the health" of passengers and staff. The
airline, which as canncelled about 45 per cent of its flights since the Sars outbreak
started, ahs said some travelers are even refusing to fly Cathay on routes which
did not pass through Hong Kong. In
yesterday's advertisements, the airline said cabin air was safer than that in
office buildings, since "fresh air continuously flows into the cabin from
outside the aircraft for the duration fo every flight". "The
entire cabin air volume is exchanged every three to five minutes ¡K by comparison,
commercial building only offer 15 per cent fresh air, mixed with recycled air,
at any given moment," the adverts said. Doctors
and regional health officials agreed that fears of catching Sars in aircraft were
unfounded. Anthony
Hedley, a professor of community medicine at the University of Hong Kong, said
the "risk of catching Sars [is] a function of personal hygiene whereevery
you are. Obviously
being in a confined space with other people . . . would increase the risks. But
they are still quite low, since it's not like whole train-loads of people, or
plane-loads, are going down with Sars." Gordon
Cable, president of the Aviation Medical Society of Australia and New Zealand,
said: "We know that he virus is spread like the common cold or influenza
- by closed persona lcontact. You are just as likely to catch it in a subway,
cinema, elevator, or anywhere that people are in close proximity - not just aircraft". Neil
branch, a spokesman for the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, agreed
that "you have to be in very, very close contact to catch it:". "You
cannot get it through the ventilation system. It's not even been scientifically
proven that [Sars] can be transmitted by air travel," Mr Branch said. Australian
guidelines recommend that airline passengers who could be infected with Sars be
placed six rows away from everyone else to isolate them. "Six rows back pretty
much does it," MR Branch said. Boeing's
director of corporate communications for Asia, Mark Hooper, said that "as
far as environments go, the airplane cabin is health", and the circulation
pattern and extremely dry environment inside planes did not favour the spread
of disease. Cabin
ventilation systems were designed to eliminate tiny particles such as viruses,
he said. Overall,
most experts agree that it is close quarters, rather than the design of airliners
and subway trains, that helps Sars spread.
4. Your Sars Questions Answered
SCMP,
26 April 2003 Doctor
Margaret Cheng is on hand to answer your questions o the atypical pneumonia outbreak.
If you have any questions for her, e-mail them to mharris@netvigator.com. More
questions will be answered in Monday's City section. Q
I have read that many people wash all their clothes when they get home. Is it
really necessary? I thought the Sars virus could only survive on surfaces for
three hours, and if we leave the clothes aside for three hours, the virus will
die. Can the virus from "infected" clothing dumped in a corner for a
few hours spread to other people or things at home? What about shoes or jackets? A
We know the Sars virus can last for 20 hours or so [at first splashed on to a
surface. So theoretically, if someone coughed it all over you in a lift, left
it on a chair or gave you that traditional Central greeting, a good elbow jabbing,
it could be on your outer clothing. But I thing taking off all your clothes and
washing them is somewhat excessive. How on earth is it going to get on your underwear
- or perhaps I shouldn't go there! Some people take off their outer clothing -
jackets and skirts or trousers - and leave them outside their flat or in an area
et aside in the flat. This may be a reasonable precaution. Giving your shoes a
good wipe with disinfectant or an alcohol wipe is sensible too. But remember to
wash your hands whey you've done all this.
5. Tung's cabinet under the spotlight
Christine
Loh, SCMP 26 April 2003 
6. Worldwide Cases
SCMP,
26 April 2003 
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