HoustonChronicle.com
HoustonChronicle.com logo HoustonChronicle.com

Section: SARS
Section: World
Section: Health & Medicine

Current stories in Health & Medicine:

Printer-friendly format

April 28, 2003, 11:25PM

Town riots over SARS rumor

Mistaken belief that school would be used as ward

By ERIK ECKHOLM
New York Times

RESOURCES

CHRONICLE COVERAGE
Hot Topic: SARS

ABOUT SARS:
Tally of cases by country
Images of new virus
Questions and answers
Fact sheet
Interactive lesson

Video VIDEO:
China closes major Beijing hospital 4/24
Chinese farmers face SARS 4/24
Hong Kong says containment efforts paying off 4/22
(Video requires the free RealPlayer)

Other resources:
CDC information
World Health Organization information

CHAGUGANG, China -- Thousands of people rioted in this rural town Sunday night and ransacked a school, residents said, after rumors spread that the four-story building would be turned into a ward for patients suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

Despite the presence Monday morning of hundreds of police officers and two busloads of paramilitary troops in riot gear, residents seemed unrepentant about their actions, illustrating how hard it may be for the government here to control popular emotion about a disease whose existence it played down for months before abruptly changing tack eight days ago.

Daily totals of those infected in China have increased sharply since, with reported SARS cases in Beijing climbing Monday by 96 to 1,199, up from 350 just one week ago.

Chagugang is an agricultural market town about 12 miles northwest of the port of Tianjin, a two-hour drive from Beijing, with major truck and train traffic. As of Sunday, the Tianjin municipality had 22 confirmed cases and 55 suspected SARS patients.

On Sunday night, residents in Chagugang had heard -- mistakenly, local officials said Monday -- that urban SARS patients were to be housed in a junior high school here. This was perceived by residents as one more sign of the disdain big city officials have for rural residents, as well as a possible health threat.

Chagugang residents said more than 10,000 people took to the streets in violent protest before the police dispersed the crowd around midnight.

"We are people, too!" said an elderly woman, who like others interviewed would not let her name be used. "This disease is exactly what everyone wants to avoid, and they want to throw it right at us."

The junior high school was, in fact, abruptly closed last week for rebuilding into a facility with 200 individual bedrooms. Officials said it was to be used for quarantining people with possible exposure to SARS, not for sick patients.

Monday, the damaged building was guarded by scores of policemen and the paramilitary troops. Hundreds more police officers lined the road through town, preventing residents or visitors from approaching.

The attack on the school was the first reported instance of civic violence directly associated with SARS. More conflict appears possible as China's government -- used to treating the public, especially in rural areas, in a highhanded fashion -- applies stringent measures in an effort to contain the disease and runs up against social tensions and the fast-spreading fear of SARS.



 
Nazar's Jewelry
 

 

4-Day Storewide SALE!