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.