There have been recent reports in the newspapers indicating that with the recent spread of SARS many readers are too scared to visit their local bookstores. As a result, book sales for April 2003 are already 20 % down on sales for the same period last year.
日前報上就有出版同業指出，由於急性呼吸道感染疫情的傳播，造成讀者不敢上書店，台灣連鎖書店四月份業績已比去年同期衰退兩成。