IEEE conference cancelled as SARS pandemic spreads

FEARS OF A PANDEMIC of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) have forced the IEEE to can its main DSP conference due to start on April 6th.

That follows reports from South East Asia that an entire high rise building has been quarantined in Hong Kong, while Singapore is imposing draconic quarantine restrictions on its citizens.

SARS caused the organisers of ICASSP 2003 to issue an urgent notification to attendees saying that conditions mean it's "impossible to continue" with the conference.

The conference was set to start in Hong Kong and attendees have been told they will get a notice from the organisers about reimbursement of the registration fees.

While only two per cent of SARS victims die from the disease, it is apparently spreading like wildfire, and gripping the Far East in panic.

Two per cent of billions of people is a heck of a lot of people, but the extent of the outbreak has been overshadowed by blanket coverage of Gulf War III on many newswires.

The Australian government has now cautioned its citizens against travelling to affected locations, while the Chinese government has come under severe criticism for allegedly suppressing reports about the disease in a bid to keep tourist numbers up. µ

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