SARS Patients and their Family Members Consider Class Action Suit Against Chinese Government

A Canadian citizen living in Toronto who originally came from Hong Kong revealed that SARS patients and their family members are considering bringing a class action suit against the Chinese government.

It is widely believed that the cover-up of the SARS epidemic by the Chinese government contributed to the spread of SARS around the world, including Canada, a country geographically far away from China. The World Health Organization announced on May 14 the removal of Canada from the list of SARS affected areas. On May 27, however, it was verified that Canada was again under SARS attack, and nearly a thousand people needed to be quarantined.

The deputy mayor of Beijing, Wang Qishan, said on May 16, "Beijing has gained the upper hand in the battle against SARS. We are very confident that we have the ability to conquer SARS in May."

But Yang Huanming, a famous gene research scientist, admitted that China has not been able to identify the pathogenesis of SARS.

By May 20, 7864 SARS cases had been reported around the world, with 643 deaths.