HOSPITALS across the North are taking the precaution of training staff and ordering specialist equipment to deal with any influx of Sars cases.

Dr David Chadwick, of the Infectious Diseases Department at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, said: "We can be a little bit more confident here in Britain that Sars will not run riot in this country but we don't have enough evidence to be absolutely certain."

He confirmed that key hospital personnel - in line with others in the region - have met to draw up an infection control policy.

Front line staff have been trained to identify suspected cases, and health workers on the infectious diseases ward have been briefed on precautions once a patient is confirmed as having Sars.

Such patients will be put in a single isolation room to be treated by doctors and nurses wearing special clothing.

The hospital recently ordered more masks which mould to the face, protective plastic visors and negative pressure air flow systems, to be installed in isolation rooms.

Those who survive often take one or two months to recover. Less than five per cent die.

Dr Chadwick said: "The likelihood of a sudden increase in Sars cases in the North-East is very unlikely."