SARS
...inessman, has business between China and the United States. He said he didn¡¯t fear about SARS and he would be in Guangzhou next month. He said from what he understood, about 1,000 cases have been reported in the Guangdong province. The population of the city of Guangzhou is several million people. And the death rate was about three or four percent. If we break it down, we had a less than one percent chance of getting the disease and about a 0.03 chance of getting it and dying from it. He thought the fear of that was way over blown because more people die of influenza and pneumonia than from SARS. He was still going on his trip. He refused to be dominated by unwarranted fear. Sandy, a 25 year-old friend of mine, who lived in South China, has completely opposite opinions about SARS. She said she felt depressed due to the SARS scare. Even though she was taking precautions, wearing masks, washing hands, and avoiding crowded places as much as possible, it is still unavoidable to interact with people. She said she understood that common flu is a bigger killer than SARS, but at least it was more understood. There were ways to deal with it. But with SARS we don't know how to deal with it. People put on masks but nobody knows that has any effect or not. Finally, she said as an adult she didn¡¯t feel much threat herself because she took precautions. SARS is a global health threat, and it has influenced people¡¯s health and life. It has also influenced world¡¯s economy. ¡°My businesses have been badly hit since the outbreak of SARS.¡± Tina who owns a pub and a hair salon in East Beijing said. Many businesses have been seriously damaged by SARS. Most people stayed home instead of going to restaurant or any other public entertainment places. I am glad to see Chinese government was serious about dealing with SARS and announced a series of anti-SARS measures, including: Temporarily closing down libraries, Internet cafes, karoake parlors, movie theatres, poo...