Universities in China's capital, Beijing, announced they had cancelled some classes in a bid to prevent the spread of the potentially fatal flu-like virus. The Chinese government also admitted for the first time that the outbreak could damage China's economic growth.
The announcements came a day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) accused China of underreporting the numbers of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome cases in the country. The WHO said some Sars sufferers were being treated secretly at military hospitals in Beijing.
Meanwhile, it was reported today that India's first case of the disease had been detected in the western state of Goa.
Goa's chief minister, Manohar Parrikar said that a 32-year-old marine engineer had tested positive for the virus and was being treated at the Goa Medical College. The man is said to have arrived in Goa earlier this month after travelling in Singapore.
Also, Australian health authorities today reported three probable cases of the virus - three children visiting from Canada - in what could be the country's first cases of the disease that is sweeping Asia. Australia's chief medical officer, Richard Smallwood, said the children, who have been under investigation for Sars since April 4, had fully recovered and the disease has not spread to other family members.
The three children, aged 18 months, three years and six, came to Australia earlier this month to visit relatives who had arriving from Toronto. In Canada, 13 people have already died of the disease, which was first detected in Hong Kong last month.
WHO has now advised port health authorities that all international travellers leaving affected areas should be screened before departure.
Sars has claimed the lives of 162 people over the past month, and affected 3,000 people in more than 20 countries around the world. Mainland China has reported 65 deaths, followed by 61 in Hong Kong, 15 in Singapore, 13 in Canada, five in Vietnam, two in Thailand and one in Malaysia.
Chinese leaders this week signalled a change in China's official attitude towards the outbreak, expressing grave worry for the first time and demanding urgent action. But the country is still going ahead with major events, such as an international trade fair in the hard-hit southern province of Guangdong, and a car show in Shanghai.
Nationwide, China has reported more than 1,300 cases of infection. Most are in Guangdong, where the illness is suspected to have originated, but cases have been reported as far away as China's desert north-west. Beijing has reported four deaths and 37 cases.
Peking University today said it had cancelled a high school open day planned for this Saturday and postponed sports activities. A statement on its website said it took the steps "to reduce the chances of spreading Sars".
The university cancelled economics classes yesterday after an economics lecturer was hospitalised with a high fever, a symptom of Sars, according to a department employee. He said the lecturer's mother died on Tuesday and is believed to have had the disease.
In an attempt to improve the image of China's record on controlling Sars, city officials took about 120 foreign reporters on a tour of its disease-control centre.
The government said today that the outbreak will cut China's economic growth, even as it reported unusually strong growth of 9.9% for the first three months of this year.
"Sars, for sure, will have an influence on the economy's performance in China," said Yao Jingyuan, an economist at the national bureau of statistics.
Mr Yao said it was "too early to make any forecasts", but private economists have cut projections of China's economic growth this year by up to 1%, citing the impact on airlines and other industries amid warnings to avoid travel to affected areas.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman today defended the government against complaints that it has withheld information, insisting officials had acted responsibly.
"The Chinese government has consistently handled relevant issues responsibly in a scientific manner that includes understanding, dealing with and releasing information about Sars," said Liu Jianchao. Yesterday, WHO investigators said they found previously unreported cases in Beijing military hospitals, but said the military barred them from releasing details.
The UN agency has warned that city officials were failing to trace people exposed to those infected, which it said could let the disease spread. However it did not accuse Chinese officials of a deliberate cover-up.
Chris Patten, the European Union's external relations commissioner, today claimed that China was still hiding information about the disease.
"I hope this will be the last occasion on which the international community will have to call for much greater transparency from China," he said.
Thousands of pupils from China who are studying at independent schools in Britain will have to undergo twice-daily examinations for Sars when they return from the Easter holidays, it emerged today.
Guidelines issued to all independent schools recommend that those arriving back from high-risk destinations, including Hong Kong and Singapore, should be regularly monitored for symptoms of the potentially deadly disease.
Although there is no quarantine requirement, a number of schools, including Eton College, are refusing to accept pupils back if they have visited those high-risk areas within 10 days of the start of term.
In a letter sent to parents last week, Eton headmaster Tony Little wrote: "On the advice of our school doctor, who has consulted the public health laboratory service, we cannot accept boys back into their boarding houses who have visited Hong Kong, Singapore or Guangdong province, China, within the previous 10 days."
A spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said it was "quite concerned" about the restrictions adopted by some schools, including Eton, and claimed that it would only cause "undue stress" to both students and parents.
"While we appreciate the need for caution and protection, this discriminatory action will serve to stigmatise our students at schools, which is most undesirable from an educational point of view."