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BEIJING - Karaoke parlors, movie theaters and discos shut their doors Sunday under orders from Beijing officials trying to contain the spread of SARS, which claimed more lives in the Chinese capital, Hong Kong, Taipei and Singapore.
As Beijing health officials recorded eight new deaths and said as many as 2,300 people might be infected, hundreds of construction workers labored around the clock to build a 1,000-bed isolation ward for SARS patients. A ninth person died elsewhere in mainland China, bringing its total to 131, and 12 more died in Hong Kong.
Taiwan, which reported its first SARS death, imposed a mandatory 10-day quarantine on travelers from areas affected by the virus - including mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam and Toronto - but did not announce where those travelers would stay while quarantined.
Those violating the quarantine, including foreigners, can be jailed for up to two years or fined up to $8,600, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said.
Singapore said it would close dozens of food markets and ban visits to public hospitals to contain its outbreak.
SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, has killed 318 people from Beijing to Toronto in the past several months and sickened more than 4,800 others worldwide. There have been no SARS deaths in the United States.
SARS is a flulike, sometimes fatal lung infection. In general, it begins with a fever greater than 100.4 degrees. Other symptoms may include headache, discomfort and body aches. After two to seven days, SARS patients may develop a dry cough and have trouble breathing.
Beijing has been the hardest-hit locality, with 56 deaths and 1,114 confirmed cases. An additional 1,191 people in the capital are suspected of harboring the virus, the Health Ministry said.
Beijing has sealed off three hospitals in a quarantine of patients and staff, and 7,600 people who may have been exposed have been ordered to stay home. The city's public schools also are closed, affecting 1.7-million students.
On Sunday, Beijing authorities ordered all entertainment venues - theaters, Internet cafes and clubs - shut to "stop possible spread of the SARS virus and ensure public health," the official Xinhua New Agency said.
It was unclear how many jobs would be affected by the closures in the city of 13-million people, whose economy depends heavily on the service industry.
Hong Kong reported 12 new SARS deaths, matching its previous one-day high, but health officials said the number of new infections dropped Sunday to 16, its lowest figure in weeks.
"The figures of infection have shown a slightly downward trend," Health Director Margaret Chan said. "But we dare not to make any predictions - this disease has shown big fluctuations."
SARS has sickened 1,543 people and killed 133 in Hong Kong, and local business has been badly hurt by the outbreak.
Canada has had 20 SARS deaths in the largest outbreak outside Asia, prompting the World Health Organization to warn travelers to avoid Toronto.
In Washington, a top federal health official said the United States is "just ahead of the curve" and able so far to avoid large numbers of SARS cases.
"There are no new signs that it's spreading in any escalating way" in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said Sunday.
There have been 41 SARS cases in the United States, but no deaths.
The WHO director said Sunday there still is time to arrest the global spread of SARS if affected countries took appropriate measures such as airport checks and travel warnings.
"At the moment, we still have a chance to contain it and to have it go down in the places where outbreaks are already happening and avoid it spreading to new countries," Gro Harlem Brundtland said on the British Broadcasting Corp. television program Breakfast with Frost.
Thailand said it would host a meeting Tuesday of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other Asian nations on how to cope with SARS - but will require attendees to submit health certificates verifying they are free of the disease.