The government is lagging far behind in providing hospitals with equipment to handle suspected SARS cases despite their requests for help and the fear that the deadly infectious disease may stage a comeback this winter, according to a Kyodo News survey released Tuesday.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in July that hospitals designated to provide initial treatment of SARS cases would be eligible for subsidies when they buy isolation equipment.

But the survey found many of the hospitals have not received a response from the ministry about whether they can get subsidies despite having asked for help in late July.

Of about 750 authorized hospitals across the country, 480 asked for disposable supplies, including masks and gowns, through prefectural governments. But as of Monday, no prefecture had heard back from the ministry regarding these specific requests.

Prefectural officials say the ministry is foot-dragging.

"The system is losing significance," one local government official complained. "We'll be in trouble if the ministry doesn't hurry up."

About 360 hospitals asked for isolation equipment that includes partitions to segregate suspected cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Many have not been delivered.

Most prefectures received no answer from the ministry until this month, the survey found, including 10 that received a reply after Dec. 10.

As of noon Monday, four prefectures still had not received any response.

"It took more time than we expected to examine whether the subsidies will stay within the budget," an official at the ministry's infectious disease control section said. "We want to provide all answers by Saturday."