China Issues SARS Travel Advisory to Students

China’s Education Ministry has advised millions of university students not to travel during the weeklong national holiday that begins May 1 in an attempt to contain the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, state-run media reported today.

The SARS warning could lead to a more sweeping advisory to all citizens to stay at home during the vacation period -- an event designed to boost China’s economy with a wave of domestic spending.

The official New China News Agency carried the report, and it was front-page news today in the China Youth Daily.

As several nations have warned their citizens to avoid unnecessary visits to China, Beijing has been under increasing pressure to reconsider its policy of encouraging people to travel during the vacation.

The first known cases of SARS were reported in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong in November.

Since then, China has reported 67 SARS deaths and almost 1,500 cases.

At least 185 people have died around the world, mostly in Asia.

Critics have speculated that mainland China is covering up information about the disease because of its relatively few reported deaths.

On Friday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao demanded timely and honest reporting of SARS cases.

In Hong Kong on Saturday, officials reported a record 12 new deaths from SARS.

Hong Kong has had 81 of the total reported deaths -- or about 44% -- and is becoming the global epicenter of the disease, for which there is no proven cure.

Hong Kong tried to calm its residents Saturday by launching a cleanup campaign also intended to reassure international companies that the territory is a safe place to do business.

Hong Kong’s health secretary, E.K. Yeoh, put on rubber gloves to stir up a mixture of water and bleach -- which can kill the virus -- and started scrubbing the floor of a downtown vegetable market.

“Personal hygiene and environmental hygiene are two important objectives,” Yeoh said.