The 80 experts from around China who are participating in the May 12-21 inspection meeting are being kept away as much as possible from others on the dam site. All members of the inspection team will work in relative isolation, to help reduce the risk of infection.

But the 49 inspectors who arrived from Beijing, which has been hardest hit by the virus, are causing particular concern. They were flown by special plane to Yichang, in Hubei province, near the site of the dam, and will be taken back to Beijing the same way. A disinfected vehicle was standing by to whisk them to their lodgings, and they are to have their temperature taken daily.

Lu Youmei, general manager of the Three Gorges Project Development Corp., has warned there can be no room for errors in the all-out effort to avoid introducing the SARS virus to the construction zone. With the world looking on, this year’s goals of filling the reservoir, putting the permanent shiplock into operation and generating hydropower must be achieved, he said.

Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan phoned Mr. Lu and requested that measures be stepped up to safeguard the health of the Three Gorges construction crew and ensure the smooth progress of the project, Chinese press reports said.

Mr. Zeng suggested that a special disease-control monitoring system be set up at the dam site, and information on SARS distributed widely. The corporation should also work with local officials to improve living conditions and food safety for workers on the site, and draft an emergency plan to deal with a potential SARS outbreak, he said.

Pan Dazhong, head of the dam-site management bureau, told the Three Gorges Project Daily (Sanxia gongcheng bao) that the corporation is doing everything possible to ward off the virus. No meetings are allowed on the site at this time without written permission from the project authority. And 30,000 doses of Chinese medicine have been distributed to workers on the site in the hope that this will help prevent infection.

Premier Wen Jiabao has warned of dire consquences if SARS spreads widely in the Chinese countryside, where health-care facilities are poor and people are reluctant to seek treatment because medical services are not free.

So far, no cases of SARS have been reported at the dam site. However, officials have run into problems enforcing regulations, with security guards and hotel staff sometimes unwilling to wear face masks, and some workers refusing to register guests visiting them from outside the site.