CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Beijing's battle against the deadly SARS virus has prompted more drastic measures. Authorities have now quarantined a hospital in the city. Our Beijing bureau chief, Jaime FlorCruz, has more.</s>JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): A funeral van pulls into the back door of the Beijing University People's Hospital, now closed off and quarantined because of the SARS outbreak. After playing down SARS for months, Chinese authorities are taking drastic measures to break the chain of infections. Beijing's communist party chief has vowed to identify all of those with symptoms and not let a single SARS case escape. They have decreed that all people in public places suspected of SARS infections will be quarantined. Schools have been closed, pupils sent home for two weeks.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm not too happy about this long vacation, because there will be too much homework.</s>FLORCRUZ: To stem the spread of SARS, public places are periodically sprayed with disinfectants. At the Beijing airport, passengers are now required to go through infrared devices to screen them of SARS symptoms, like high fever. These measures so far have failed to stop the spread of the disease in the Chinese capital.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The SARS crisis has really underlined significant political weaknesses in the Chinese state and professional weaknesses among Chinese government officials.</s>FLORCRUZ: As Chinese and foreign travelers scramble to leave Beijing, the World Health Organization has put Beijing on the list of places to avoid for non-essential travel. In some neighborhoods, fear of quarantined has triggered panic buying of daily goods, like rice, cooking oil and instant noodles.</s>COSTELLO: Understand. Jaime FlorCruz live from Beijing, China this morning. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
SARS Scare: Beijing Battles Virus