SARS the "threat"
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Asian airlines reel as deadly virus spreads
Jang Newspapers
Asian airlines reel
as deadly virus spreads
HONG KONG: Asian airlines announced cutbacks to services Monday and their shares dived as fearful travellers cancelled bookings due to the rapid spread of a deadly virus.
US authorities have warned Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) could be more contagious than first thought and with other countries have advised against travel to parts of Asia.
The illness has now infected more than 1,600 people in 15 countries and killed more than 60 people.
It erupted in southern China, spread to Hong Kong and has been dispersed worldwide by airline passengers.
The scramble by airlines to cut back services -- which were already hurting from the US war in Iraq -- gathered pace Monday with Hong Kong routes bearing the brunt.
Hong Kong is at the centre of the virus outbreak, which first appeared in the neighbouring Chinese province of Guangdong.
Hong Kong authorities on Monday isolated an entire housing block for 10 days in an attempt to control the epidemic after 185 people on the estate were found to be infected -- a rise of 64 overnight.
Cathay Pacific Airways announced a temporary reduction of flights to eight destinations within the region from mid-April until May 31 in response to a fall in demand prompted by the virus outbreak, which has killed 15 in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong-based Dragonair has cancelled 11 flights to China and Taiwan because of a drop in bookings, a spokeswoman said.
Asia's top carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) said Monday that 10,000 passengers cancelled bookings for international flights in March because of the war in Iraq and the virus.
"The Iraq factor is probably larger, but SARS appears to spread more easily than was thought," said JAL spokesman Hirohide Ishikawa. "We have to watch whether the impact will get bigger." Australian aviation experts warned the airline industry is nearing a "worst-case scenario" due to the double blow of war and disease.
"Recent service cutbacks are already more severe than occurred in the 1991 Gulf War on the back of what already is a distressed industry," the report said.
The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation said traffic within Asia had been relatively lightly affected by the Iraq conflict but the outbreak of SARS posed a real threat to traveler confidence in some markets.
Australian flag carrier Qantas is among a string of regional airlines hit by the virus, announcing last Friday that it would not meet this year's profit targets as passengers delay bookings.
Air New Zealand said it would cancel 3.3 per cent of its overseas flights in response to a five per cent to 10 per cent drop in bookings.
Between May 12 and June 30, Air New Zealand will cut its Auckland to Hong Kong flights on Mondays.
Thai Airways said Monday it is also temporarily suspending some flights to Hong Kong and other cities affected by the virus. Flights to Hong Kong were being reduced from seven to four a day, a spokeswoman said.
Korean Air, the larger of South Korea's two air carriers, said bookings for April travel were 10 per cent down from the same time last year, with Southeast Asian routes falling 17 per cent.
Korea's second carrier, Asiana Airlines, said its bookings were down five per cent in March from a year ago.
Philippine Airlines said it was unlikely to achieve net profit target for the current financial year due to the war and the virus.
"We were looking at one billion pesos, but with all these things going on, we don't expect to hit (the target)," PAL spokesman Rolando Estabillo told AFP.
The share prices of Asian airlines continued to plunge Monday as the virus crisis intensified.
In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific fell 6.9 per cent and other tourism-related stocks were also battered.
"There is no bottom line for the dive," Prudential Brokerage senior investment manager Kingston Lin warned.
Singapore Airlines fell 3.3 per cent, its lowest level in nearly 17 months and Korean Air declined 7.3 per cent.
In Taiwan China Airlines and EVA Airways fell by their daily limit of seven per cent.
Malaysia Airlines retreated 6.7 per cent and Qantas fell one per cent following a 9.6 per cent slump on Friday.
Asian airlines reel
as deadly virus spreads
HONG KONG: Asian airlines announced cutbacks to services Monday and their shares dived as fearful travellers cancelled bookings due to the rapid spread of a deadly virus.
US authorities have warned Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) could be more contagious than first thought and with other countries have advised against travel to parts of Asia.
The illness has now infected more than 1,600 people in 15 countries and killed more than 60 people.
It erupted in southern China, spread to Hong Kong and has been dispersed worldwide by airline passengers.
The scramble by airlines to cut back services -- which were already hurting from the US war in Iraq -- gathered pace Monday with Hong Kong routes bearing the brunt.
Hong Kong is at the centre of the virus outbreak, which first appeared in the neighbouring Chinese province of Guangdong.
Hong Kong authorities on Monday isolated an entire housing block for 10 days in an attempt to control the epidemic after 185 people on the estate were found to be infected -- a rise of 64 overnight.
Cathay Pacific Airways announced a temporary reduction of flights to eight destinations within the region from mid-April until May 31 in response to a fall in demand prompted by the virus outbreak, which has killed 15 in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong-based Dragonair has cancelled 11 flights to China and Taiwan because of a drop in bookings, a spokeswoman said.
Asia's top carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) said Monday that 10,000 passengers cancelled bookings for international flights in March because of the war in Iraq and the virus.
"The Iraq factor is probably larger, but SARS appears to spread more easily than was thought," said JAL spokesman Hirohide Ishikawa. "We have to watch whether the impact will get bigger." Australian aviation experts warned the airline industry is nearing a "worst-case scenario" due to the double blow of war and disease.
"Recent service cutbacks are already more severe than occurred in the 1991 Gulf War on the back of what already is a distressed industry," the report said.
The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation said traffic within Asia had been relatively lightly affected by the Iraq conflict but the outbreak of SARS posed a real threat to traveler confidence in some markets.
Australian flag carrier Qantas is among a string of regional airlines hit by the virus, announcing last Friday that it would not meet this year's profit targets as passengers delay bookings.
Air New Zealand said it would cancel 3.3 per cent of its overseas flights in response to a five per cent to 10 per cent drop in bookings.
Between May 12 and June 30, Air New Zealand will cut its Auckland to Hong Kong flights on Mondays.
Thai Airways said Monday it is also temporarily suspending some flights to Hong Kong and other cities affected by the virus. Flights to Hong Kong were being reduced from seven to four a day, a spokeswoman said.
Korean Air, the larger of South Korea's two air carriers, said bookings for April travel were 10 per cent down from the same time last year, with Southeast Asian routes falling 17 per cent.
Korea's second carrier, Asiana Airlines, said its bookings were down five per cent in March from a year ago.
Philippine Airlines said it was unlikely to achieve net profit target for the current financial year due to the war and the virus.
"We were looking at one billion pesos, but with all these things going on, we don't expect to hit (the target)," PAL spokesman Rolando Estabillo told AFP.
The share prices of Asian airlines continued to plunge Monday as the virus crisis intensified.
In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific fell 6.9 per cent and other tourism-related stocks were also battered.
"There is no bottom line for the dive," Prudential Brokerage senior investment manager Kingston Lin warned.
Singapore Airlines fell 3.3 per cent, its lowest level in nearly 17 months and Korean Air declined 7.3 per cent.
In Taiwan China Airlines and EVA Airways fell by their daily limit of seven per cent.
Malaysia Airlines retreated 6.7 per cent and Qantas fell one per cent following a 9.6 per cent slump on Friday.
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Maybe, maybe not. More fresh air would obviously be good but here is an interesting link about aircraft aircon :
How Aircraft Aircon works and what it can and can't do. From Boeing ....
D&G
How Aircraft Aircon works and what it can and can't do. From Boeing ....
D&G
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ABC News Online:
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Posted: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 6:16 AEST
Mystery virus worries flight staff
Australian flight attendants have expressed concerns about their personal safety as the death toll climbs from the mysterious severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Pilots are now required to seek quarantine clearance before they land in Australia by declaring whether there are any unwell people aboard the plane who may need to be examined.
The Flight Attendants Association met Qantas representatives yesterday and will today release a statement to its members on what measures are being put in place to protect them from SARS.
Flight Attendants Association spokesman Wayne Cooper says it is understandable that some flight attendants are concerned.
"We have a number of members that obviously are quite concerned about this in relation to media reports regarding the virus," she said.
"But that's why we're addressing the issue to the members and to also allay the fears of the public."
Print Email
Posted: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 6:16 AEST
Mystery virus worries flight staff
Australian flight attendants have expressed concerns about their personal safety as the death toll climbs from the mysterious severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Pilots are now required to seek quarantine clearance before they land in Australia by declaring whether there are any unwell people aboard the plane who may need to be examined.
The Flight Attendants Association met Qantas representatives yesterday and will today release a statement to its members on what measures are being put in place to protect them from SARS.
Flight Attendants Association spokesman Wayne Cooper says it is understandable that some flight attendants are concerned.
"We have a number of members that obviously are quite concerned about this in relation to media reports regarding the virus," she said.
"But that's why we're addressing the issue to the members and to also allay the fears of the public."
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Is anyone able to say how many people die each year from the flu in Australia. If 60 people have died from SARS and 1600 have been infected that is only a 4% mortality rate. Chances are you are more likely to die from other diseases than this one.
Moderate, Modest & Mild.
The 60 are only the KNOWN ones to date, PFO - who knows how many have succumbed in China from it to date.
Anyway...seems as though the WHO is a tad more concerned than you. It appears to be reaching epedemic levels rapidly, in some countries.
I wonder what liabilities companies who send their employees to known infected areas, eg. H.K., face, in the event an employee contracts it?
Anyway...seems as though the WHO is a tad more concerned than you. It appears to be reaching epedemic levels rapidly, in some countries.
I wonder what liabilities companies who send their employees to known infected areas, eg. H.K., face, in the event an employee contracts it?
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Don't beleive the Hype
It is spread by droplet only. Meaning that casual contact with a person with the disease puts you at no significant risk. But if that person were to cough or sneeze all over you then you would be at risk. It can only travel as far as the droplet travels so airconditioners in hotels AIRCRAFT etc are not risky, although I wouldn't want to be sitting in sneezing range, luckily up the pointy end theres no risk of that! I'm off to Honka's on friday, I'm not too worried about it and neither should the rest of the travelling public, it just seems like that everyone in the world is so scared of everything these days, this is'nt the first disease of this kind and it surely wont be the last, everyone needs to stop worrying about things that MIGHT happen and get on with there lives!!
Just my two sense worth,
Cheers All
It is spread by droplet only. Meaning that casual contact with a person with the disease puts you at no significant risk. But if that person were to cough or sneeze all over you then you would be at risk. It can only travel as far as the droplet travels so airconditioners in hotels AIRCRAFT etc are not risky, although I wouldn't want to be sitting in sneezing range, luckily up the pointy end theres no risk of that! I'm off to Honka's on friday, I'm not too worried about it and neither should the rest of the travelling public, it just seems like that everyone in the world is so scared of everything these days, this is'nt the first disease of this kind and it surely wont be the last, everyone needs to stop worrying about things that MIGHT happen and get on with there lives!!
Just my two sense worth,
Cheers All
Last edited by Freek Flyer; 2nd Apr 2003 at 11:54.
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From Voice of America
"The sharp jump in the number of cases at the Hong Kong residential high-rise has raised fears that the virus may be airborne and not spread by sneezing, coughing or close contact, as health experts have assumed. Hong Kong's health minister said officials also are investigating whether the ailment is moving through sewage systems, after traces of the virus were found in human waste samples from patients at the apartment complex."
"The sharp jump in the number of cases at the Hong Kong residential high-rise has raised fears that the virus may be airborne and not spread by sneezing, coughing or close contact, as health experts have assumed. Hong Kong's health minister said officials also are investigating whether the ailment is moving through sewage systems, after traces of the virus were found in human waste samples from patients at the apartment complex."
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Freeky Flier (what a great handle).
Since you are a microbiologist - and better qualified than everyone else in the world at that (since here is no consensus on the airbourne vector yet), I am relieved by your post.
I can now make my trips without worry of infection by the hawking, gobbing masses that come out of the infection centers of this disease.
I am relieved that I do not have to worry about the spitting and coughing that goes on all around me everyday and the fact that a chinese handkerchief is rarer than a Egyptian transistor. Or that the gobs of slime on every horizontal surface are not a worry.
Terry Nation wrote a play that aired on British TV series in the 70's called the "Survivors". The first episode rings so true to just now - I only hope that the rest doesn't happen.
DG
Since you are a microbiologist - and better qualified than everyone else in the world at that (since here is no consensus on the airbourne vector yet), I am relieved by your post.
I can now make my trips without worry of infection by the hawking, gobbing masses that come out of the infection centers of this disease.
I am relieved that I do not have to worry about the spitting and coughing that goes on all around me everyday and the fact that a chinese handkerchief is rarer than a Egyptian transistor. Or that the gobs of slime on every horizontal surface are not a worry.
Terry Nation wrote a play that aired on British TV series in the 70's called the "Survivors". The first episode rings so true to just now - I only hope that the rest doesn't happen.
DG
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AAP
Qantas considers bug travel advice
April 02, 2003
QANTAS was today considering the implications of upgraded travel advice from the federal government in the wake of Australia's first confirmed case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Qantas has already cut back flights to Asia as a result of the deadly virus that is spreading around the world from there.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade last night strongly advised travellers to Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam to defer non-essential trips due to the virus.
Qantas last week announced it had reduced planned international flying by up to 20 per cent between April 1 and mid-July in response to the US invasion of Iraq and the deadly pneumonia-like SARS.
The illness has killed up to 75 people worldwide, including 43 in mainland China and 16 in Hong Kong.
The disease originated in China's Guangdong province, sparking an international health alert. There are now more than 2,000 confirmed infections worldwide. Among the Qantas changes announced last Friday were suspension of the airline's twice-weekly Brisbane-Hong Kong services, and suspension of four Sydney-Hong Kong services each week reducing services from 30 to 24 per week.
A spokeswoman for the airline said a meeting today was expected to reassess services following the government's new travel warning.
She also confirmed Qantas representatives met with members of the Flight Attendants Association of Australia (FAAA) yesterday to address concerns about the personal safety of members.
"We did meet with the FAAA yesterday," she said.
"We have been providing information to our staff all along (and) they obviously were seeking some information about what we were doing to provide information."
The FAAA was expected to release a statement to its members today outlining the measures being put in place to protect them from SARS.
AAP
Qantas considers bug travel advice
April 02, 2003
QANTAS was today considering the implications of upgraded travel advice from the federal government in the wake of Australia's first confirmed case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Qantas has already cut back flights to Asia as a result of the deadly virus that is spreading around the world from there.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade last night strongly advised travellers to Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam to defer non-essential trips due to the virus.
Qantas last week announced it had reduced planned international flying by up to 20 per cent between April 1 and mid-July in response to the US invasion of Iraq and the deadly pneumonia-like SARS.
The illness has killed up to 75 people worldwide, including 43 in mainland China and 16 in Hong Kong.
The disease originated in China's Guangdong province, sparking an international health alert. There are now more than 2,000 confirmed infections worldwide. Among the Qantas changes announced last Friday were suspension of the airline's twice-weekly Brisbane-Hong Kong services, and suspension of four Sydney-Hong Kong services each week reducing services from 30 to 24 per week.
A spokeswoman for the airline said a meeting today was expected to reassess services following the government's new travel warning.
She also confirmed Qantas representatives met with members of the Flight Attendants Association of Australia (FAAA) yesterday to address concerns about the personal safety of members.
"We did meet with the FAAA yesterday," she said.
"We have been providing information to our staff all along (and) they obviously were seeking some information about what we were doing to provide information."
The FAAA was expected to release a statement to its members today outlining the measures being put in place to protect them from SARS.
AAP
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Freek Flyer,
I suggest you read through Kaptin M post as what he has quoted is mainly what the WHO considers the risks are. If you think you know more then the WHO about the spread of this disease I suggest you give your info to the authorities and save more people from this disease.
Just remember FF and I Quote"even touching a contaminated elevator button will spead this virus"
Best of luck in HKG
I suggest you read through Kaptin M post as what he has quoted is mainly what the WHO considers the risks are. If you think you know more then the WHO about the spread of this disease I suggest you give your info to the authorities and save more people from this disease.
Just remember FF and I Quote"even touching a contaminated elevator button will spead this virus"
Best of luck in HKG
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Gentlemen, lets put this in perspective. 1400 people die every year as a result of flu related illnesses in British Colombia alone.....and this virus has claimed 60 odd worldwide? Stop reading the media hysteria and think for yourselves......yes this a problem but can be overcome with some sensible precautions.
I am in Hong Kong and have been for the last 2 weeks operating from here.
Freek ....I am not so sure you are correct.....no evidence just a gut feeling as this does not explain the outbreak in a specific high rise in HK.
I am in Hong Kong and have been for the last 2 weeks operating from here.
Freek ....I am not so sure you are correct.....no evidence just a gut feeling as this does not explain the outbreak in a specific high rise in HK.
The Reverend
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Recirc fans
Before you decide to turn off the recirc fans, you might like to review this very comprehensive Boeing report on the 767 ECS system operation. The same applies to the 744 and could possibly by now, be superior to this report. I am not familiar with the Airbus ECS concept but would expect it to be at least of equal quality.
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/cabinair/ecs.pdf
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/cabinair/ecs.pdf
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No Medical Cover for travellers to SARS Countries
Thurs "Sydney Morning Herald"
Travellers told to avoid five destinations as SARS spreads
By Michael Bradley and Ben Wyld
April 3 2003
Australians have been told to avoid travelling to five destinations affected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome and warned those using airports in these places should wear face masks.
The recommendations apply to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam and Canada.
The updated travel advisory, issued by the Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs, led the Insurance Council of Australia to warn the level of cover would be reduced for travel in those places.
QBE and American International Group said medical cover would no longer be offered and
Royal & SunAlliance said it would not issue travel insurance for these countries.
Three people are under investigation in Australia for SARS, which has killed at least 75 people and infected more than 2000.
Even then, a World Health Organisation official, epidemiologist Robert Breiman, who is a member of the WHO team in China, said yesterday he did not think SARS had peaked internationally.
In Darwin, a 25-year-old man is being treated in hospital having been admitted yesterday with a high fever and cough. He had recently travelled to Singapore and is being treated in an isolation ward.
Twenty-three students and two teachers from a Queensland private school who returned to Australia from Hong Kong yesterday are to be kept out of class. The students, all members of The Southport School under-14 rugby team, had been competing in a rugby tournament.
DFAT said people transiting through airports in the five countries listed were at very low risk, but added that "it would be prudent, while in transit, to avoid close contact with persons who are unwell" and that "a simple surgical face mask and regular hand washing will offer added protection".
Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines yesterday announced they would waive all airline-related charges for customers wanting to change travel plans.
Sydney Airport has also adopted tighter disease surveillance measures. Pilots now have to seek quarantine clearance before landing by declaring whether any unwell people are onboard.
In overseas developments on SARS yesterday:
· A critically ill Singapore woman has shown a slight improvement after she was treated with serum taken from the blood of a recovered patient.
· Indonesia's Government promised to rush in new laws to give it more power to control the spread of infectious diseases after disclosing three suspect cases.
· Two more people with SARS died in Canada yesterday, bringing the national total to six dead and 129 probable cases.
· Thailand reported its second death from the disease.
· An American Airlines flight from Tokyo was quarantined in California yesterday after five people on board complained of SARS symptoms.
· The New Zealand Government warned Maoris not to perform their traditional greeting - rubbing noses - with Chinese delegates at a conference near Wellington, for fear they could contract the virus.
The Catholic Church in Hong Kong has discouraged priests from distributing wine during Communion and ordered them to wear masks during the service. Wafers are to be put in the hands of the faithful rather than directly on the tongue.
The Australian director of the Hong Kong Development Council said two trade exhibitions scheduled for Hong Kong this month will go ahead as planned.
Of the 600 Australian delegates expected at the 5000-exhibitor fairs, only about a dozen have said they would cancel.
In Malaysia, a newspaper reported a fatality as the country's first SARS victim, but health officials said there were no confirmed cases.
==========================================
Thurs "Sydney Morning Herald"
China coming clean on spread of killer illness
By Hamish McDonald, Herald Correspondent in Beijing, and agencies
April 3 2003
China's wall of silence on the lethal pneumonia epidemic started to break open yesterday when health officials in southern Guangdong province reported 361 new cases of the illness and nine more deaths during March.
This appears to contradict earlier claims that the outbreak was "under control". At the same time, a team of four experts sent by the World Health Organisation was given permission to visit Guangdong, the suspected origin of the new disease, after waiting five days in Beijing for a response.
The figures bring the number of severe acute respiratory syndrome cases in China to 967 at the end of the March, with 43 reported deaths, though more cases might be added later from other Chinese provinces.
=============================================
Travellers told to avoid five destinations as SARS spreads
By Michael Bradley and Ben Wyld
April 3 2003
Australians have been told to avoid travelling to five destinations affected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome and warned those using airports in these places should wear face masks.
The recommendations apply to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam and Canada.
The updated travel advisory, issued by the Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs, led the Insurance Council of Australia to warn the level of cover would be reduced for travel in those places.
QBE and American International Group said medical cover would no longer be offered and
Royal & SunAlliance said it would not issue travel insurance for these countries.
Three people are under investigation in Australia for SARS, which has killed at least 75 people and infected more than 2000.
Even then, a World Health Organisation official, epidemiologist Robert Breiman, who is a member of the WHO team in China, said yesterday he did not think SARS had peaked internationally.
In Darwin, a 25-year-old man is being treated in hospital having been admitted yesterday with a high fever and cough. He had recently travelled to Singapore and is being treated in an isolation ward.
Twenty-three students and two teachers from a Queensland private school who returned to Australia from Hong Kong yesterday are to be kept out of class. The students, all members of The Southport School under-14 rugby team, had been competing in a rugby tournament.
DFAT said people transiting through airports in the five countries listed were at very low risk, but added that "it would be prudent, while in transit, to avoid close contact with persons who are unwell" and that "a simple surgical face mask and regular hand washing will offer added protection".
Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines yesterday announced they would waive all airline-related charges for customers wanting to change travel plans.
Sydney Airport has also adopted tighter disease surveillance measures. Pilots now have to seek quarantine clearance before landing by declaring whether any unwell people are onboard.
In overseas developments on SARS yesterday:
· A critically ill Singapore woman has shown a slight improvement after she was treated with serum taken from the blood of a recovered patient.
· Indonesia's Government promised to rush in new laws to give it more power to control the spread of infectious diseases after disclosing three suspect cases.
· Two more people with SARS died in Canada yesterday, bringing the national total to six dead and 129 probable cases.
· Thailand reported its second death from the disease.
· An American Airlines flight from Tokyo was quarantined in California yesterday after five people on board complained of SARS symptoms.
· The New Zealand Government warned Maoris not to perform their traditional greeting - rubbing noses - with Chinese delegates at a conference near Wellington, for fear they could contract the virus.
The Catholic Church in Hong Kong has discouraged priests from distributing wine during Communion and ordered them to wear masks during the service. Wafers are to be put in the hands of the faithful rather than directly on the tongue.
The Australian director of the Hong Kong Development Council said two trade exhibitions scheduled for Hong Kong this month will go ahead as planned.
Of the 600 Australian delegates expected at the 5000-exhibitor fairs, only about a dozen have said they would cancel.
In Malaysia, a newspaper reported a fatality as the country's first SARS victim, but health officials said there were no confirmed cases.
==========================================
Thurs "Sydney Morning Herald"
China coming clean on spread of killer illness
By Hamish McDonald, Herald Correspondent in Beijing, and agencies
April 3 2003
China's wall of silence on the lethal pneumonia epidemic started to break open yesterday when health officials in southern Guangdong province reported 361 new cases of the illness and nine more deaths during March.
This appears to contradict earlier claims that the outbreak was "under control". At the same time, a team of four experts sent by the World Health Organisation was given permission to visit Guangdong, the suspected origin of the new disease, after waiting five days in Beijing for a response.
The figures bring the number of severe acute respiratory syndrome cases in China to 967 at the end of the March, with 43 reported deaths, though more cases might be added later from other Chinese provinces.
=============================================
Last edited by Wirraway; 3rd Apr 2003 at 00:00.
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AAP
SARS creating 'fear of flying'
April 04, 2003
THE Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) scare has sparked a fear of flying among Asian travellers, a leading tourism lobby group has said.
Australian Tourism Export Council deputy managing director Greg Thomas said all inbound operators surveyed had reported "significant cancellations" from Asia.
He said usually Australia would have benefited as an alternative destination for an Asian market put off from travelling to the United States or Europe because of the Iraq conflict.
But Asians had cut back dramatically on all travel because of the virus.
"There is this fear of getting on a plane or going to an airport," Mr Thomas said of SARS.
"There is a wait-and-see attitude."
SARS has killed about 80 people in Asia and Canada and affected more than 2,200 people in over a dozen countries.
Mr Thomas said it was still too early to put a figure on the impact of SARS on inbound tourism to Australia.
But with the Asian market making up more than 40 per cent of all arrivals, it will make a significant dent into the $17 billion annual inbound industry.
The Australian Tourist Commission had attributed half of a 30 per cent fall in forward bookings to the SARS scare.
Mr Thomas said the group travel market was the most severely affected.
He said in particular a number of large groups, some up to 2,000 strong, scheduled to arrive in Australia over the next couple of weeks, could be cancelled.
The virus has already been held responsible for the postponement of the Asia Pacific Summit in Brisbane and a dramatic slashing in delegates to other major conferences.
"The business outlook for the next quarter is looking extremely flat," Mr Thomas said.
"The next stage for us is how the industry can discuss with government on ways we can go forward."
AAP
==========================================
AAP
SARS doctors to staff airports
April 04, 2003
DOCTORS and nurses will be placed at major Australian airports from tomorrow to boost protection against the deadly flu-like disease SARS.
Federal Health Minister Kay Patterson said health professionals would be on call at airports to provide advice and assess possible cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
There were seven suspected SARS cases in Australia, including three young Canadian siblings admitted to a Melbourne hospital overnight.
Senator Patterson said airlines would also begin making onboard health announcements about the disease, while incoming and outgoing passengers would be given leaflets about how to protect themselves from SARS.
"I believe we've acted in a prudent and responsible and appropriate way, and we have very, very good procedures in place in our hospitals," she said.
The Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer Richard Smallwood said Australia already had strong measures in place to identify and isolate people possibly ill with SARS.
"What is happening at the moment is just a step up," he said.
"It would be a wise and prudent move to have clinical expertise actually at the airport."
But Professor Smallwood said the measures relied on "people being responsible".
"We are not quarantining everybody that comes in from Hong Kong for example," he said.
"It does require them to protect themselves and those around them by getting in touch with health authorities or their doctor as soon as they begin to feel unwell."
He said incoming aircrews who identified passengers with possible SARS symptoms would radio ahead to quarantine officials and ask for a medical assessment and possible hospitalisation.
Airlines and state health authorities would also keep in contact with other passengers over the three to 10 day incubation period for SARS.
Prof Smallwood said it could be several more days until it was known if the ill girl in Melbourne had SARS and a reliable test for the virus could still be some weeks away.
"At the moment we don't have SARS in the country.
There has been no transmission in Australia," he said.
Australia has notified the World Health Organisation (WHO) of one case of SARS but the victim, a British tourist, has recovered and returned home.
But, aside from the three children in Victoria - a girl and two boys who were visiting from Canada - there were now two suspected cases in NSW and another in Victoria.
Prof Smallwood said it was still unclear whether SARS was spread through personal contact alone, as there was a chance the virus could live on items like glasses or plates for two to three hours.
"So someone who touches that surface or picks up that glass may then put their hand to their mouth or their face and infect themselves," he said.
He said Australia had no power to prevent people with suspected SARS boarding inbound ships or aircraft overseas, and could only advise Australians who were feeling ill not to travel.
AAP
SARS creating 'fear of flying'
April 04, 2003
THE Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) scare has sparked a fear of flying among Asian travellers, a leading tourism lobby group has said.
Australian Tourism Export Council deputy managing director Greg Thomas said all inbound operators surveyed had reported "significant cancellations" from Asia.
He said usually Australia would have benefited as an alternative destination for an Asian market put off from travelling to the United States or Europe because of the Iraq conflict.
But Asians had cut back dramatically on all travel because of the virus.
"There is this fear of getting on a plane or going to an airport," Mr Thomas said of SARS.
"There is a wait-and-see attitude."
SARS has killed about 80 people in Asia and Canada and affected more than 2,200 people in over a dozen countries.
Mr Thomas said it was still too early to put a figure on the impact of SARS on inbound tourism to Australia.
But with the Asian market making up more than 40 per cent of all arrivals, it will make a significant dent into the $17 billion annual inbound industry.
The Australian Tourist Commission had attributed half of a 30 per cent fall in forward bookings to the SARS scare.
Mr Thomas said the group travel market was the most severely affected.
He said in particular a number of large groups, some up to 2,000 strong, scheduled to arrive in Australia over the next couple of weeks, could be cancelled.
The virus has already been held responsible for the postponement of the Asia Pacific Summit in Brisbane and a dramatic slashing in delegates to other major conferences.
"The business outlook for the next quarter is looking extremely flat," Mr Thomas said.
"The next stage for us is how the industry can discuss with government on ways we can go forward."
AAP
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AAP
SARS doctors to staff airports
April 04, 2003
DOCTORS and nurses will be placed at major Australian airports from tomorrow to boost protection against the deadly flu-like disease SARS.
Federal Health Minister Kay Patterson said health professionals would be on call at airports to provide advice and assess possible cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
There were seven suspected SARS cases in Australia, including three young Canadian siblings admitted to a Melbourne hospital overnight.
Senator Patterson said airlines would also begin making onboard health announcements about the disease, while incoming and outgoing passengers would be given leaflets about how to protect themselves from SARS.
"I believe we've acted in a prudent and responsible and appropriate way, and we have very, very good procedures in place in our hospitals," she said.
The Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer Richard Smallwood said Australia already had strong measures in place to identify and isolate people possibly ill with SARS.
"What is happening at the moment is just a step up," he said.
"It would be a wise and prudent move to have clinical expertise actually at the airport."
But Professor Smallwood said the measures relied on "people being responsible".
"We are not quarantining everybody that comes in from Hong Kong for example," he said.
"It does require them to protect themselves and those around them by getting in touch with health authorities or their doctor as soon as they begin to feel unwell."
He said incoming aircrews who identified passengers with possible SARS symptoms would radio ahead to quarantine officials and ask for a medical assessment and possible hospitalisation.
Airlines and state health authorities would also keep in contact with other passengers over the three to 10 day incubation period for SARS.
Prof Smallwood said it could be several more days until it was known if the ill girl in Melbourne had SARS and a reliable test for the virus could still be some weeks away.
"At the moment we don't have SARS in the country.
There has been no transmission in Australia," he said.
Australia has notified the World Health Organisation (WHO) of one case of SARS but the victim, a British tourist, has recovered and returned home.
But, aside from the three children in Victoria - a girl and two boys who were visiting from Canada - there were now two suspected cases in NSW and another in Victoria.
Prof Smallwood said it was still unclear whether SARS was spread through personal contact alone, as there was a chance the virus could live on items like glasses or plates for two to three hours.
"So someone who touches that surface or picks up that glass may then put their hand to their mouth or their face and infect themselves," he said.
He said Australia had no power to prevent people with suspected SARS boarding inbound ships or aircraft overseas, and could only advise Australians who were feeling ill not to travel.
AAP
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Listening to the Chief Medical chappie in the federal government in an interview the other day, he also quoted the flu figures. His words were, this puts it into perspective, ie. the flu is a lot more deadly than SARS (as an aside, is the tautology in the use of "severe and acute" so that it is'nt ARS?)
In fact, this chap also ridiculed the comparisons that all our great journos have been doing to the Spanish Flu epidemic.
Listening to the Chief Medical chappie in the federal government in an interview the other day, he also quoted the flu figures. His words were, this puts it into perspective, ie. the flu is a lot more deadly than SARS (as an aside, is the tautology in the use of "severe and acute" so that it is'nt ARS?)
In fact, this chap also ridiculed the comparisons that all our great journos have been doing to the Spanish Flu epidemic.