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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, April 11, 2003

No reports of SARS cases from China Air worker

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer

A China Airlines flight attendant who passed through Honolulu on March 31 has tested positive for SARS but is recovering, and there have been no related illnesses reported here, a state health official said yesterday.

Glowing Dragon co-owner Michael Wong says his restaurant is usually packed at lunchtime, but that business is down by half because of an unfounded rumor about officials closing the place because of SARS.

Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

The incubation period for the respiratory illness appears to be two to seven days, officials said, meaning if anyone caught it from the flight attendant, they probably would be sick by now.

"The good news is, that although this SARS case did come through Hawai'i, we're up to the 10-day incubation period and there's no evidence of transmission to other people," state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Effler said.

Hawai'i continues to have no confirmed cases of SARS, although five residents — all of whom had mild illnesses — are classified as suspected cases of the fast-spreading illness that has killed 133 people worldwide and has hit especially hard in Asia.

The flight attendant, who is in her 30s, stayed at the Holiday Inn Waikiki on an overnight layover, March 31 to April 1. Because she was not feeling well, she stayed in her room during her time in Honolulu, according to Effler. The hotel is operating normally and poses no health risk, he said.

Before arriving in Honolulu, the flight attendant had flown in and out of Hong Kong on March 25, and flew to Tokyo on March 27. Upon returning to Taipei, she tested positive on one of three tests used to determine if a person has SARS. But because the cause of the disease remains unknown, the tests that are available are "not completely conclusive" Effler said.

Effler said he has heard of people steering clear of Chinatown here and in other states because of SARS fears, but said there's no reason to do so. He said it's unfortunate "when individuals start to almost put an ethnicity or race to the face of a problem here."

Some Chinatown businesses are attributing a sharp drop in customers to rumors and anxiety about SARS.

Three restaurants said business is down 50 percent or more. The Glowing Dragon, a Maunakea Street restaurant, was hit by an unfounded rumor that officials had closed it. Health Department officials did check the restaurant after receiving inquiries from the public, but the business received a clean bill of health.

"Some people that are not educated are making rumors all around Chinatown, and it kills the business," said Eva Lau, manager of the New Empress Chinese Restaurant. "Not only for the restaurants, it is killing business for all in Chinatown, including grocery stores and markets."

SARS — severe acute respiratory syndrome — is believed to have originated in Guandong province in China, and spread to cause significant outbreaks in Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto and Hanoi, Vietnam.

The federal government has advised people to postpone nonessential travel to those areas, and airline and public health officials are screening air travelers and are prepared to quarantine those who exhibit symptoms.

Chinese Chamber of Commerce executive vice president Wen Lin said business has slowed in recent weeks in general in Chinatown and has been especially slow in some restaurants.

Lin said he has been passing the information to the Chinese news media from the Health Department that no restaurants have been closed because of illness and there have been no confirmed cases of SARS here. James Yan, publisher of the Hawai'i Chinese News, a bilingual paper, said he put out a special edition of his twice-monthly paper yesterday to try to dispel the rumors of any SARS link to Chinatown.

Lau said business at the New Empress is down 75 percent in recent weeks because people think SARS is in the area. She has started laying off workers.

"Every single restaurant is having a hard time," Lau said.

Albert Au, manager of Wong Kee Sea Food Restaurant, said business is off 60 percent to 70 percent.

"People are scared to come to Chinatown because they are worried about SARS," Au said. "Nobody got SARS in Chinatown."

State Health Department officials said they have received many calls from people, beginning last weekend and increasing daily, asking if a Honolulu Chinese restaurant has been closed down because of SARS.

Michele Nakata, chief of the disease investigation branch of the state Health Department, said her office has found no links from any possible SARS case to any Chinatown business. She said the rumors have increased since Sunday to the point that on Wednesday she asked the department's sanitation branch to go to the subject of the rumors, the Glowing Dragon restaurant, to check for any problems.

Brian Choy of the sanitation branch said his staff found nothing wrong at the restaurant and has not closed any Chinatown restaurants for any reason recently.

Two of Glowing Dragon's owners — Sunny Kwok Wah Chan and Michael Wong — said they are extremely frustrated and upset by the rumors and want people to know that there is no truth to them.

"My business dropped, almost half gone," Chan said.

Next door, at the Nam Fong meat market, Dylan Chiu isn't selling nearly as many of the golden roast ducks and chicken that people wait in line for on most days. Chiu said he usually sells about 150 ducks a day but has been selling only about 50 each day this week.

He said a rumor was spread that he was hospitalized on Monday his normal day off. It got so bad that he started walking around Chinatown on Wednesday to let people see that he was OK. "I show myself," he said.

Advertiser staff writer James Gonser contributed to this report.