China braces for Labour Day "Golden Week" SARS outbreak

Chinese government officials have heightened surveillance of incoming and outgoing international passengers for SARS yesterday ahead of a 2 week holiday period.

Government departments have issued a directive asking the country's transport sector and ports to strengthen quarantine procedures.

Railway stations and airports have been ordered to check temperatures of all passengers from Beijing and Anhui province, where the latest SARS cases have eminated.

The Labour Day "Golden Week", a break for travel, shopping and family reunions, was cut short last year during the peak of the worldwide Sars outbreak for fear of spreading the disease.

Meanwhile leading nurses from China and Hong Kong who are in Sydney, Australia for a conference on SARS say they are better prepared for the latest outbreak of the disease in China

In the latest outbreak, SARS appears to have killed one and left three others with either suspected or confirmed symptoms.

Madame Guo Yang Hun, in Sydney on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Health, is confident the outbreak can be isolated with a strict four-point emergency plan

"The first is early detection, the second is early report and communication, the third is early isolation and the fourth is early treatment," she said.