Page updated:
Monday, 13 August 2007

SARS - the Beijing street...

COMMUNICATION 1: Beijing - the outbreak

Sydney, 6 May, 2003, 6.50pm Australian Eastern Standard Time...

Russ: What are the latest figures you have about the spread of SARS in China?

Yvonne: Today's cumulative total of confirmed SARS cases for the Chinese mainland is 4560, including 219 deaths. A total of 1487 have recovered and 2854 are still in hospital.

There are a further 2666 suspected cases under observation today. In the last 24 hours, a further 97 cases were confirmed in Beijing, bringing the total to 2075. In Hong Kong, the total number of confirmed SARS cases is now 1646, including over 300 health workers.

Russ: And what abut the quarantine? Do people have confidence in the governmeent's ability to deal with the outbreak?

Yvonne: On 5 May, a total of 15 873 people remain under quarantine in Beijing. My son's Chinese tutor, Phoenix, lives in a dormitory building at the Central University of Finance and Economics. After two residents were found to have SARS, she was one of 200 people quarantined there. Following her initial fear, Phoenix said she was happy with the way the government was handling the SARS crisis and looked forward to being able to leave her building. None of the 200 are exhibiting any signs of having SARS

"At first I was worried when I saw people close the gate, but felt better after I talked to my friends," said Phoenix. "I understand the government's decision that some places need to be sealed. We Chinese think of our government to be just like our guardian. Maybe she is a careless mother, and sometimes she makes mistake, but she still loves her children, and I am willing to trust her."

Russ: How is SARS affecting Beijing and its residents?

Yvonne: The reconstructed Badaling section of the Great Wall, 70km northwest of Beijing, is a popular destination for both domestic and international tourists and notorious for its crowds. Usually packed with tens of thousands of visitors with barely room to move, it was a different story when I visited it on Monday 28th April and counted just 17 people on the Wall all day! Coach tours were banned, the souvenir shops and restaurants were closed, the car parks empty. The eerie quiet was a visible measure of how SARS has affected China's capital.

Elsewhere, tourism has ground to a halt as sites remain empty with many closed for the foreseeable future, perhaps weeks. On May Day, Tiananmen Square, usually filled with kite-flying holiday makers and families visiting from other provinces, resembled an abandoned airport runway and the nearby Forbidden City a deserted wasteland.

Russ: Are parents keeping ther children at home?

Yvonne: Although there have been no reports of children dying from SARS, fearful parents had kept their children home after the revelation that the disease had spread in Beijing to a far greater extent than previously announced.

On Wednesday April 23, Beijing closed all its primary and secondary schools, telling the 1.7 million students to study at home and use an online educational service.

Russ: What is the public mood in Beijing?

Yvonne: There seems to be a variety of moods in Beijing, ranging from ignoring the entire situation to manifestations of sheer panic. Most people I have spoken to tend to waver somewhere in the middle and SARS is generally being taken very seriously. Many Chinese nationals ARE concerned but have faith in their government's ability to overcome the epidemic.

Russ: How fearful are people?

Yvonne: Beijing is a municipality with a population of 14 million. Although less than 2000 of central Beijing's 8 million residents have been detected as having SARS and just over 100 have died, this new disease has alarmed billions.

Outright fear is not too evident but as this is a virus believed to be easy to catch, knowing the actual precautions to take is of prime concern. To prevent its spread, the government ordered the closure of schools and colleges as well as bars, dance clubs, karaoke parlors, cinemas and live theatres until further notice. Strict hygiene measures, including frequent hand washing and the disinfecting of public transport, is encouraged, but a general lack of scientific knowledge has led to strange practices, verging on superstition, being carried out in the search for possible cures or prevention measures.

Many of Beijing's foreign workers and students have returned home in droves, not because they are frightened of SARS, but, as schools and colleges have been closed and classes cancelled, there is simply nothing for them to do here. Bars, dance clubs, film screenings and live performances have been shut down as the Beijing government has banned all forms of public entertainment. The Rolling Stones postponed their Asian tour scheduled for early April as did "Cats", due to be staged in Beijing from mid May.

Russ: What sort of countermeasures are people taking?

Yvonne: Throughout Beijing sandalwood incense, one supposed cure for the disease, is being burnt. The fumes of boiling vinegar have also been touted as a 'guaranteed prevention method' and markets have sold out of turnips, another so-called 'foolproof cure'.

Small plastic sachets of questionable brown ‘herbal medicine’ decorated with sketches of ginseng and deer with huge sets of antlers was handed out to employees of some state owned enterprises. I later discovered that this mixture, said to ‘build up your immune system’, was manufactured by a downtown eye hospital and contained neither ginseng nor deer antlers!

Health officials in Hong Kong issued a strongly worded statement squashing a fast growing rumor that smoking could help prevent the disease. "Smoking weakens body immunity and increases the chance of infection," a spokesperson said, adding that rumors that smoking could prevent SARS were "totally unfounded."

A friend of mine works for a Chinese company that insisted on all its employees being ‘immunized’ against SARS. As neither a cure nor a vaccination against this viral infection has yet been discovered, this order was met with refusal by many of the foreign staff. My friend insisted on being told exactly what the injection contained. He was finally told that it wasn’t really an immunization but another ‘immune booster’ and that its primary function was to ‘stop the panic among workers’. He, along with his foreign co-workers, refused the shot.

Russ: Reports are being received here that people are killing animals which are said to carry the virus.Do you know anything about his?

Yvonne: Dogs and cats have been killed by their owners due to fears that they may spread the virus. One dog was said to have been thrown from a sixth floor window. There are reports that the government is confiscating all pets belonging to SARS victims and killing them while police are patrolling the suburbs and rounding up pet dogs. My foreign friends are keeping a close eye on their own pets, and not allowing them to appear in public.

Russ: How has SARS affected your ability to move around the city?

Yvonne: Last week my employer told me not to come to work for 11 days but to stay in Beijing and, for my own safety, to avoid crowded places, not to travel nor visit friends or use public transport and not to go shopping or sightseeing.

Most Beijingers simply aren't going out, so the few you see in public are the intrepid, brave ones who either must shop for necessities or go to and from work. Around half of the shops are closed, medical outlets sell out of thermometers and some recommended medicines and vitamin preparations. Restaurants are almost empty.

Russ: Do you wear a mask when you go out?

Yvonne: We do not wear masks anywhere although they are common on the streets of Beijing despite not being designed to protect the wearer from diseases such as SARS but rather to protect health workers and patients from infecting others. This point seems to be lost on most.

The wearing of thin gauze or paper masks is common, despite the fact that they are a useless form of prevention unless the mask is of an N95 standard, which means that it has the capacity to filter 95% of particles greater than three microns. These masks are not readily available here. I’ve seen just one!

Russ: What about public behaviour? What hasn't changed?

Yvonne: Despite fear of SARS, habits such as using chopsticks to eat from communal dishes and spitting have not changed even though both these customs are considered to be prime reasons for the spread of the disease. People remove their masks to spit and the sidewalks are still spotted with globs of phlegm, but it is obvious that there is less now than usual. One reason may simply be that there are fewer people on the streets these days.

Spitting, on China's mainland, is a habit that is widespread and difficult to halt. Despite it being technically illegal and carrying a minor (5 yuan - $1 Australian) fine, the ban is not enforced. In Hong Kong the fine is HK$500 ($125 Australian) and in Macao it is even higher. Following an intensive public announcement campaign about unsanitary behavior such as spitting and littering, the banning of both was heavily enforced in Hong Kong and Macao, so there are now few offenders. In Beijing, spitting is extensive.

Russ: How is travel being affected?

Yvonne: Discouraging people from traveling dealt a potential blow to the nation’s economy as tens of millions of travelers had been expected to fill trains, planes, buses and hotels across China.

Beijing’s airport set up an infrared body temperature scanner to check passengers for fever, as a temperature of over 38 degrees Centigrade is considered to be a vital SARS symptom. Similar devices have been set up at railway stations.

Trains from other provinces terminating in Beijing are equipped with special 'quarantine' cars. All passengers have their temperatures taken and recorded, along with their names and telephone numbers and, on arrival, walk past heat-detecting equipment.

Russ: Have you, as a Westerner, received any specific advice about the outbreak from the authorities?

Yvonne: Chinese authorities have gone to great lengths to give foreign nationals advice about SARS. This includes translating written material and information CDs into English.

Work units have freely provided a lot of necessities to its employees, including foreigners. I have been given a thermometer, masks, disinfectant and liquid disinfectant soap, herbal medicine and vitamins as well as a sanitized car to transport me to and from work. At least one Beijing university paid the airfares of its foreign teachers who wanted to return home and gave everyone their May salary, even if they left in April.

Russ: How has SARS affected the operation and staffing at Beijing Review, where you work? Are people staying away?

Yvonne: At my work unit most staff, including myself, were sent home on Friday 25 April for 11 days of 'quarantine'.

I was due to return on Tuesday 6 May, but on the night of the 5 May I was telephoned and informed that someone in my office building had just come down with a fever and I was told not to return to work. A meeting will be held to decide future plans. I have been sent some editing work to do via my home computer.

Russ: What is your appraisal of action by the Chinese government in dealing with SARS?

Yvonne: Despite the previous misinformation about the number of SARS cases in Beijing, I don't want to suggest that the government is handling the epidemic completely incompetently. There are a lot of people trying to do the right thing to bring the situation under control. This includes freely distributing disinfectant and thermometers, building a designated SARS hospital in an outer Beijing suburb, putting reservoirs that supply the city with drinking water under guard and preventing people from swimming or fishing in them, disinfecting all vehicles entering the city and taking the temperatures of all drivers and passengers.

Russ: What are your plans for coming weeks?

Yvonne: Here I am, an Australian in Beijing, waiting out the epidemic. Like many other foreigners, I will stick it out unless there is a drastic change for the worse.