The Health Ministry reported 163 new cases of the disease and seven deaths between 10 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday. One of those who died was a Taiwanese businessman who was traveling in the mainland.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that the fight against the disease had led to a shortage of adhesive-bonded fabric shoe slipcovers and caps at hospitals.
"At the moment, the Beijing Pharmaceuticals Company, Ltd., which is in charge of the supply of medical materials for the prevention and control of atypical pneumonia in Beijing, has urgently sought nationwide to purchase 100,000 disposable adhesive-bonded fabric shoe slipcovers and 100,000 disposable adhesive-bonded fabric caps," Xinhua reported.
China also announced the setting up of two quarantine centers for suspected SARS cases in the Guangdong province's Shenzen city.
Another five people died from the disease in Hong Kong Sunday, and there were 70 people in serious condition, but Sunday was the first time the territory reported a single-digit rise in confirmed cases. The Hospital Authority announced eight new cases, taking the total number of infections to 1,629.
In Hong Kong, two herbalists from mainland China were working with officials to combine traditional Chinese medicine with Western medical practices, Radio TV Hong Kong reported. Professor Lin Lim, director of the respiratory department of the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said the experience in Guangdong showed such combinations were useful. Hong Kong has said the treatment will be given to patients on a voluntary basis only.
Also in Hong Kong, 10 crewmembers of a Malaysian-registered ship were taken to a local hospital after they displayed SARS-like symptoms.
In Taiwan, officials from the World Health Organization arrived to investigate the status of SARS. The two were expected to visit hospitals that house suspected SARS patients. The officials are the first from the WHO to visit Taiwan since 1972.
Interior Minister Yu Cheng-hsien called on the public to follow all anti-SARS measures, adding those who violate quarantine regulations will be sent to a military barracks for mandatory confinement. The move comes after several reports of quarantine violations in Taiwan. As of Sunday, 57 people had been sent to the Hung Wu barracks for compulsory confinement, the Central News Agency reported.
Yu said those who have had close contact with a SARS patient or have returned from areas affected by the deadly virus are subject to a 10-day home quarantine.
To combat the spread of the disease, the government also announced the closure of six schools around Taiwan. Thirty-nine cases were reported in local schools as of Sunday. The CNA said 2,063 students and teachers were now subject to home quarantine, 632 to school quarantine and 57 were isolated at hospitals.
In the past 10 days, the number of probable SARS cases in Taiwan has increased to 116 with eight fatalities, including five Friday.
In South Korea, National Institute of Health reported the 15th suspected case of the disease. Sunday's case ? a student who returned from China -- was the first in six days. There have been no confirmed SARS cases in South Korea.
In Azerbaijan, two Chinese nationals, believed to have SARS, were hospitalized, the Yeni Musavat newspaper reported Sunday. On Saturday, Azeri described the presence of SARS-infected people in the country as "a hostile act."
SARS has killed some 449 people worldwide and has affected more than 6,300.
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