Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

Political and economic reaction

The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, originally scheduled for China, was moved to the United States.

Related Topics:
FIFA Women's World Cup - United States

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On March 30, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) cancelled the 2003 IIHF Women's World Championship tournament which was to take place in Beijing.

Related Topics:
March 30 - International Ice Hockey Federation

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On April 1, a European airline laid off a batch of employees owing to a drop in travellers caused by the 11 September attacks and SARS.

Related Topics:
April 1 - Europe - 11 September attacks

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Severe customer drop of Chinese cuisine restaurants in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Chinatowns in North America, 90% decrease in some cases. Business recovered considerably in some cities after promotion campaigns.

Related Topics:
Chinese cuisine - Chinatown

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Some members of Hong Kong Legislative Council recommended editing the budget for increased spending on medical services.

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Hong Kong merchants withdrew from an international jewellery and timepiece exhibition at Zürich. Switzerland officials enforced a full body check of the 1000 Hong Kong participants that would be finished 2 days before the end of the exhibition. The Swiss Ambassador to Hong Kong replied that such a body check would guard against spread via close contact. A merchant union leader alleged probable racial discrimination towards Chinese merchants, as the exhibition committee allowed the merchants to participate in the exhibition but not to promote their own goods. An estimated several hundred million HK dollars in contracts were lost as a result. However, exhibitors from Hong Kong were not barred from selling their products in their hotel rooms.

Related Topics:
Zürich - Switzerland

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Most conferences and conventions scheduled for Toronto were cancelled, and the production of at least one movie was moved out of the city. On 22 April the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the hotel occupancy rate in Toronto was only half the normal rate, and that tour operators were reporting large declines in business. It should be noted that as of 22 April all Canadian SARS cases were believed to be directly or indirectly traceable to the originally identified carriers. SARS is not loose in the community at large in Canada, although a few infected persons have broken quarantine and moved among the general population. No new cases have originated outside hospitals for 20 days.

Related Topics:
Toronto - 22 April - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

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Nonetheless, on 23 April the WHO extended its travel advice urging postponement of non-essential travel to include Toronto. At the time, city officials and business leaders in the city expected a large economic impact as a result, and an official of the Bank of Canada said that the travel ban would drastically effect Canada's national economy.

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On 29 April, WHO announced that its advisory against unnecessary travel to Toronto would be withdrawn on 30 April.

Related Topics:
29 April - 30 April

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In June, Hong Kong launched the Individual Visit Scheme in order to blush Hong Kong economy.

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In the People's Republic of China, the openness in the latter stage of the SARS crisis showed an unprecedented stance in the central government's policies. In the past, rarely had officials stepped down purely because of administrative mistakes, but the case was different with SARS, when these mistakes caused international scrutiny. This change in policy has been largely credited to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. At the heart of the crisis, Hu made a high-profile trip to Guangdong and Wen ate lunch with students at Peking University. Some analysts believe the crisis was a blow to former CPC chief Jiang Zemin, who stayed out of the national spotlight during its duration, and whose political allies, such as Health Minister Zhang Wenkang, were fired for irresponsibility and wrongdoings during the SARS crisis. Zhang was replaced by Wu Yi.

Related Topics:
People's Republic of China - Hu Jintao - Wen Jiabao - Jiang Zemin - Zhang Wenkang - Wu Yi

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Since both mainland China and Taiwan were epidemic of SARS at the same time, the politics across the strait inevitably complicated the way the disease was handled. Since People's Republic of China insists itself to represent the 23 million people in the WHO and forbid ROC government's participation, Taiwan, which was one of the most endemic area in the world, did not receive direct advice from WHO. Even though the ROC government actively reported the situation to WHO, the authority only received SARS information through the WHO website.

Related Topics:
Mainland China - Taiwan - Politics across the strait - People's Republic of China

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The ROC claimed that the lack of direct communication precluded proper handling of the disease and caused unnecessary death on the island. On the other hand, PRC claimed that video conference held between the PRC and Taiwanese local experts already facilitated the information distribution and improved the way SARS being treated in Taiwan, which ROC government utterly denied.

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The ROC further advocated its own seats in WHO and used the case of SARS to illustrate the importance to have include Taiwan into the global health monitoring system. However, the move was seen politically motivated for independence by PRC. During the WHO general assembly, the People's Republic of China fiercely snubbed the advocation for Taiwan participation. This was evidenced by one famous video clip aired widely in Taiwan about the PRC Vice Premier Wu Yi and her official company rebuffing on the question of Taiwan's representation raised by Taiwanese reporter. Under the pressure of PRC, Taiwan was excluded from several major SARS conference held by WHO. WHO eventually sent its experts to Taiwan for inspection at the end of the SARS endemic; however, PRC claimed the credit.

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