SARS may now be on the wane, and the right drugs are now being administered, but the rise in trip cancellations because of the Metropole Hotel health scare has worried the organisers of the Taiwanese bicycle trade show. Their message is a positive one. Taipei, they say, is "one of the world's safest and healthiest cities..."

Forget Hong Kong Flooey, Taipei is safe and healthy, argues CETRA

"On with the show!" argues June Chang of CETRA, the organiser of Taipei Cycle03, the international trade show.

"Taipei," she says, "is one of the world’s safest and healthiest cities. Even during the Iraq conflict [visitors] know they can [visit] Asia’s largest venue for cycle and cycle parts [and be] safe, free, and healthy. Taiwan has a glowing health record, which means that recent outbreaks of influenza in Hong Kong, Singapore, and China have been largely kept off the island."

The "largely" might still be worrying if it were not for the fact that the World Health Organisation has downgraded its ‘don’t travel to Asia’ warning. SARS is now thought to only be transmitted via close contact with infected individuals, and to be treatable with the right drugs.

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