SARS Fears Close Internet Cafes

Hoping to stem the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, also known as SARS, Beijing municipal authorities have reportedly ordered the closure of most public entertainment venues, including Internet cafes.

The inclusion of Internet cafes on the list of businesses that have been told to shut down in an effort to curb the transmission of SARS reflects how entrenched Internet use has become in the daily routines of many urban Chinese, including teenagers and university students.

The order to shut down Internet cafes, which was published by the official People's Daily newspaper on Monday, also ordered the closure of movie theaters, video game arcades, libraries, and museums in Beijing.

"The key issue here is the government is closing anywhere where large groups of people congregate," said Ted Dean, the managing director of market research firm BDA China in Beijing.

Health Concerns

The order to close Internet cafes in Beijing is not part of an effort to restrict access to online information, Dean said. "It's clearly a SARS-led decision," he said.

The decision to close Internet cafes and other public entertainment venues had the support of most Beijing residents, Dean said. "The preference here among people you talk to is that the government moves aggressively [to fight the disease]," he said.

Beijing has been hard hit by the spread of the SARS, with 1,114 confirmed cases of the disease and 56 deaths, according to figures released on Sunday by China's Ministry of Health. Those figures represented an increase of 126 SARS cases and eight deaths over the previous day.

With the number of SARS patients in Beijing on the rise, residents were seen stocking up on food supplies at markets and grocery stores in recent days and some companies have told employees to work from home. Schools and universities were also closed temporarily, with teachers instructed to assist students with their studies over the Internet or by telephone.

Face masks and disposable towelettes are in short supply, with many stores sold out of stock, according to one Beijing resident, surnamed Huang, who spoke with IDG News Service by phone.

Cause for Concern

Feeding the fear of contracting SARS among Beijing residents is a sense that government officials have lied to cover up the extent of the disease's spread. In a tacit admission that the number of SARS cases had been kept artificially low, China's government last week removed the mayor of Beijing and the minister of health from their posts and drastically raised the number of SARS cases in Beijing.

China's fight to contain SARS is now being headed by Vice-Premier Wu Yi, the highest ranking woman in China's political hierarchy and a widely respected official who once headed the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Nevertheless, the appearance of a government cover-up during the initial period when SARS was first infecting people in Beijing has left some people in the city unsure of what information about the disease is accurate.

"There are so many rumors floating around," Huang said, citing a proliferation of SMS messages and Web reports about SARS in Beijing. "You don't know what to believe and nobody trusts what the government says."

BDA's Dean also noted an increase in SMS messages and e-mails about where SARS cases have occurred in Beijing and the extent of the disease's spread in the city, saying an authoritative source of SARS-related information was required from the government.

"There needs to be a more clear, regular voice from the government on the [SARS] problem and where it stands," Dean said.