SARS: Infected Port

"Don't take that can of fish. That's mine!"

That's one of the memorable lines shouted as panic buying swept the city. Why? Because a 14-year-old kid hijacked the web site of Ming Pao Daily News and posted phony articles that claimed:

· Hong Kong had been declared an infected port by the Government of the HKSAR.

· Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa had resigned.

· The Hang Seng Index had collapsed.

That's one Hell of an April Fool's joke, but the cops weren't laughing. The kid was tracked and busted after his prank sent waves of humanity crashing into the supermarkets in a frenzy to snap up basic food items.

You know, before the End of the World.

The government had to scramble to issue statements denying the reports, which stated that supermarkets were to be closed (hence the panic buying), a curfew would be announced and that Chek Lap Kok Airport would be shut down to seal off Hong Kong. The rumour-mill cranked into overdrive. People speculated that all public areas, sporting facilities, kindergartens, schools and universities would close until mid-April.

Restaurants, pubs and bars would also be closed. No watering holes? Expatriates were furious.

The truth is only the World Health Organisation can make the decision to declare Hong Kong an infected port. But at the moment, the WHO is only considering whether to advise people against travel to Hong Kong; they'll take this measure if they can't find a link between the latest cases of SARS and those previously infected.

It would take an outbreak of the plague, cholera or yellow fever to neccesitate severe quarantine measures.

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