Beijing ? China on Thursday threatened execution for people who knowingly spread the SARS virus and cause death or serious injury, as the government attempted to force compliance with quarantines and other measures to stop the disease.

The warning from the country’s Supreme Court came as the Health Ministry reported 52 new cases of SARS infection on the mainland — the lowest daily increase since April.

Four new fatalities also were reported, raising the mainland’s death toll from severe acute respiratory syndrome to 271.

Taiwan, however, marked its biggest one-day jump in infections: 26 new cases announced Thursday. Two more hospitals on the island — one in Taipei and one in the south — were forced to seal off wards to contain outbreaks.

Taiwanese officials have already issued stay-at-home orders to 10,000 people because of contact with SARS patients — and have installed video cameras in some residences to make sure they comply.

As the worldwide death toll climbed to 602, the flulike illness continued to wreak havoc on businesses in Asia.

At a meeting in the Philippines, travel executives said SARS had caused more damage to the global airline industry than the Sept. 11 attacks and the war in Iraq combined. The industry expects to lose $10 billion this year, they said.

“At no time in the history of aviation have we ever seen declines of the magnitude that we are now seeing in the Asian region,” said Thomas Andrew Drysdale, regional director for the International Air Transport Assn.

More than 7,600 people worldwide have been infected by SARS.