Thermometers at the ready and halls smelling of disinfectant, high schools in Beijing reopened on Thursday after a month-long shutdown to stop the spread of SARS. For many of the thousands of students in the first batch to return after 1.7 million were sent home in April when the number of infections spiked, it was a relief to be out of the house. But the return to class was a reminder that something perhaps almost as scary for them as SARS was looming — dreaded college entrance exams, less than three weeks away. ‘‘Even if there hadn’t been SARS, we would’ve stayed at home to study,’’ said Wang Hongfu. ‘‘So, while it has caused major disruptions to society and prevented people from going out, it didn’t make a huge difference for us.’’ Beijing schools were closed on April 22, two days after the government fired the health minister and the Beijing mayor for covering up the extent of SARS and vowed to come clean with information about the flu-like virus. ‘‘Right now is a very important time,’’ high school principal Gao Yusheng told his students. ‘‘This is the time that will decide whether you win or lose.’’ Millions of students cram for months to compete for relatively few places at universities in entrance exams scheduled for June 7-10. Zhang Lihong, another returning student, said the break was not playtime. “The teachers called us at home to see if we had any problems we couldn’t understand and we made fine adjustments to our study schedule while being away from school,” Zhang said. Li Chunfeng, a middle school deputy headmaster, said all but three of its 306 third-year students returned on Thursday and most were happy to be back. “They missed school and their teachers,” she said. “Even though we requested they wear masks and try to keep their distance from others, the students were very affectionate when they saw one another.” Though the number of SARS cases in Beijing has dropped over two weeks, schools are taking not chances. (Reuters) • Fear of catching the flu-like SARS virus in crowded buses and packed shops has powered a huge boom in online shopping in China, retailers said on Thursday. Internet sales had risen as much as 60 per cent at firms pitching joke books, antiseptic cleaners or DVDs to keep the housebound clean and entertained during the virus-induced panic. • Taiwan saw an ever increasing SARS toll on Thursday with authorities reporting a record 65 probable infections while Cambodia said it had detected its first suspected case — a boy who had visited China. • A Singapore company on Thursday unveiled its latest accessory for the SARS-savvy consumer: a credit card-sized thermometer that displays temperatures in a tiny LCD screen. If pressed to a forehead for five to 10 seconds, temperature is displayed or a blinking light warns of fever, depending on the model and configuration. • The Wall Street Journal said the WHO planned to raise $100 million from companies, mostly to develop China’s public health infrastructure to help it fight SARS. (Agencies)
