On this day - 23 April
Historical items of interest as featured in the papers of the day.
Two week closure of Beijing Schools due to SARS virus
Beijing shut the doors to their schools for 2 weeks on April 23rd 2003 in an attempt to slow the outbreak of the SARS virus spreading. SARS stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and is a virus caused by a Coronavirus strain. A similar strain of Coronavirus was reported in December 2019 which was responsible for the Covid 19 pandemic.
The first cases of SARS were reported in late 2002 amongst agricultural and food workers in China. Over 8000 people were infected as the virus spread. The World Health Organisation was invited to assist in February 2003 and declared the outbreak contained in May 2003. Cases continued to be reported until mid 2004.
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