A LONE CHINESE PLAINCLOTHES POLICEMAN STANDS GUARD AT BEIJING'S TIANANMEN GATE, 2003-04-28 (photo)

A lone masked Chinese plainclothes policeman (L) stands guard at the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing April 28, 2003. The usually bustling square, the world's largest, was virtually empty on Monday as tourists and locals stayed away from public spaces for fear of catching the flu-like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). State media on Monday said 7,672 of the capital's 14 million people were under strict quarantine after the city enacted sweeping powers to control the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Meanwhile the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged Beijing officials to tell the public more about how to fight SARS as the number of cases in the city topped 1,100 and people scrambled to protect themselves. REUTERS/Guang Niu GN/FA