No new Sars cases

None of about 90 people feared to have been exposed to Sars in Taiwan and Singapore showed signs yesterday of contracting the lethal virus, but they have been ordered to undergo regular checks, officials said.

Authorities in Taipei were still trying to locate five more people who could have come into contact with a Taiwan research scientist who tested positive for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome there this week.

Governments in the region have been on tenterhooks because of fears the disease, which killed more than 800 people and battered economies this year, could resurface this winter.

The Taiwan man had flown to Singapore after contracting the virus in the laboratory where he worked and authorities in the city state have ordered 75 people who came into contact with him to be confined to their homes at least until today.

By Thursday, none had shown symptoms of the virus. Although five people who had come into contact with the scientist were sick, they were not suffering from the virus, the ministry said.

"Only five contacts are unwell so far," the ministry said in a statement. "Although all of them have been diagnosed as non-Sars, as a precautionary measure they have been admitted to the Communicable Disease Centre."