In a further sign that SARS virus was far from being contained in Hong Kong. Government sources on Sunday said five more people had died and 42 more had been infected with the flu-like virus.It was the largest jump in the death toll in weeks and raises the number killed due to the virus to 40 since the epidemic began in the city in March. At least 1,150 have been infected.The virus has killed 126 people and infecting nearly 3,200 worldwide. Canada reported three more deaths. Singapore reported one death from the disease, with two more suspected. Ranil puts off China visit over SARS fears Colombo: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has put off a planned visit to China due to the threat of SARS, an official confirmed on Sunday. The state-owned Sinhalese-language weekly Silumina reported that Foreign Ministry sources said the week-long visit from April 23 had been indefinitely postponed because of the threat. A government official, who did not want to be identified, confirmed the report but would not comment. AFP Hong Kong’s airport authority said 195 flights — 37 pc of those scheduled — were cancelled on Sunday. Passenger numbers have fallen more than 60 pc in recent days.Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific airways said in an internal memo, the company was losing US $ 3 million a day. The airline is carrying only a third of its usual traffic volume and the company could not rule out grounding its fleet next month if things got worse, a senior official said on Sunday. Singapore, in its bid to contain the disease, has introduced a electronic wrist tag, similar to the ankle tag given to prisoners under home detention to avoid quarantine break, a health ministry statement said. If the person attempts to remove the tag, its monitoring system alerts a central command unit.Late on Saturday, Malaysia temporarily lifted curbs on visitors from Hong Kong, Vietnam and Canada.
