Armed with brooms and mops, hundreds of thousands of residents from housewives to senior officials began cleaning Hong Kong on Saturday — a day when the city recorded 12 deaths, the highest one-day jump. The death toll from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) now stands at 81. More than 1,300 people have been infected. About 31 more infections were reported on Saturday. The official death count in mainland China now stands at 67. The massive two-day clean-up of the city, infamous for its filthy back alleys and smelly sewers, began after the government urged its all seven million population to take part in the clean-up, which will include cleansing and disinfecting streets, parks, other public venues, shops, restaurants and homes. The South China Morning Post said the team included environmental experts from the World Health Organisation. Meanwhile, China, criticised for its secretive response to the SARS outbreak, has threatened harsh punishment for officials caught covering up cases or delaying information after the government declared war on the virus. Newspapers, all supervised by the government, gave prominent coverage on Saturday to the threats from Premier Wen Jiabao and his demand that officials at all levels come clean on SARS. Jiabao issued the order after the nine-man Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee ordered an all-out war against SARS. Many migrant workers are expected to travel to their homes for the May Day holiday but the government is trying to discourage people from venturing far. State-run television said on Saturday the government was urging people not to travel long distances and to find places to enjoy nearer home. Regional governments are beginning to crank up their responses. Meanwhile, Guangdong, the epicentre of the disease, finally woke up to the disaster by making a health check-up mandatory for all international travellers, including those from nearby Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
