China Holds Press Conference on SARS

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 21, 2003

China Holds Press Conference on SARS

A press release from China's State Council Information Office said Sunday afternoon that of the 1,807 confirmed cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the mainland, 1,304 cases are found in Guangdong.

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China Holds Press Conference on SARS

The State Council Information Office is holding a press conference Sunday afternoon on the latest development of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the Chinese mainland.

The executive vice minister of the Ministry of Health Gao Qiang and vice minister Zhu Qingsheng attend the press conference to introduce the latest SARS cases, as well as the measures the Chinese government has taken to prevent the spread of the disease.

Beijing reports 339 confirmed, 402 suspected SARS cases

The press release from China's State Council Information Office said that of the 1,807 confirmed cases of SARS in the mainland, 1,304 cases are found in Guangdong.

There are 339 cases found in Beijing, 108 in Shanxi, 25 in Inner Mongolia, 12 in Guangxi, six in Hunan, five in Sichuan, three in Fujian, two in Shanghai, two in Henan and one in Ningxia.

Beijing reports a total of 339 confirmed cases and 402 suspected cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), of the total, 18 patients died.

Five foreigners were diagnosed to have SARS and another four were suspected of the disease.

China to release daily report on SARS

China will make public information about SARS cases on a daily basis starting April 21, the Executive Vice-Minister said. Before this, the information was released every five days.

Gao said at the press conference that the State Council decision is aimed to raise the awareness of governments at all levels and the general public on SARS prevention and control.

China stresses more strict epidemic reporting system

Gao said the epidemic reporting system must be carried out more strictly and violators would face severe punishment.

Gao said that those officials in charge who are incompetent to have correct information about epidemics or intentionally cover up the situation of epidemics would be punished severely.

As a discipline, all medical institutions must strengthen monitoring of epidemics, timely check the cases, and report the situation to superior departments. No delay, cover-up or missing of the cases is allowed, he added.

China cancels May Day long holidays

China's State Council has decided to cancel the week-long May Day holidays to prevent the possible spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), said the senior official.

Gao Qiang said that although the move may cause great losses to the country's tourism industry the Chinese Government is determined to place its people's health first.

Local travel is still encouraged although the Chinese government decided to cancel the week-long May Day holidays, the senior health ministry official said.

The decision is aimed to discourage large-scale traveling nationwide, and does not mean an end to tourism, Executive Vice-Minister of Health Gao Qiang said.

The canceling of long holidays is to prevent the possible spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) although the move may cause great losses to the country's tourism industry, he said earlier at the press conference.

He said it is necessary to control the flow of nationwide traveling as SARS still exists in some parts of China.

"But we surely do not hope to keep everyone at home," he said. "Local traveling would be harmless."

China effectively cooperates with WHO

The executive Vice Minister of Health told that China has actively and effectively cooperated with the World Health Organization (WHO) in controlling severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Gao said that China has paid high attention to some working suggestions raised by the WHO, which played an important role for improving SARS control.

Party, government pay high attention to SARS

Gao Qiang said that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council have paid high attention to the controlling of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Gao said that CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have made instructions many times, clearly requiring Beijing Municipality to set up a unified leading mechanism in epidemic control, all medical resources should be brought under unified mobilization of the Beijing municipal government, and information of the epidemic conditions should be collected and reported in a unified way as well.

At the same time, the leaders required that the epidemic reporting system should be strict, all medical institutions should strengthen epidemic supervision and monitoring, timely and accurately verify epidemic conditions and submit to related government agencies according to the facts, any delay or omission in reporting the epidemic conditions will not be tolerated.

Cover-up of SARS Cases not Found

The senior official denied cover-up of SARS situation by any localities on the mainland, saying it is important to separate inaccuracy of figures from intentional cover-up.

Gao said at the press conference so far, no local governments had been found to cover up the situation concerning severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

"There is an essential different between inaccuracy of SARS statistics and intentional cover-up of the situation of the disease," he said.

Gao said the central government had already dispatched supervision groups to several localities to scrutinize and confirm the SARS statistics released by local governments.

If any localities were found covering up of the SARS situation there, the officials in charge would be punished severely, and the general public let known timely, he said.

Official on Measures for SARS Control in China

China has put it as a top priority to curb the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Beijing and other provinces where the disease has been found, this senior health official said.

Gao said at that measures must be taken to effectively protect medical workers from being infected, SARS patients, suspected SARSpatients and the people who have had close contact with them be isolated, and scrutiny tightened at public transportation facilities.

To give more effective directions for SARS prevention and control in localities, the central government has sent supervisiongroups to Guangdong, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Henan and Ningxia where only one SARS case was reported, Gao said.

In particular, efforts have been redoubled to monitor and protect the development of the disease in places where crowds of people stay together, including schools, government institutions and barracks. Measures have also been taken to protect foreigners and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in the mainland.

According to Gao, the government will mobilize the elite from medical and research circles to jointly develop treatment methods and reduce deaths caused by the disease.

The government will also provide medical aid and subsidies to the poor people who contracted SARS, while offering the health-care subsidies to medical workers treating the disease.

The cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) will be further strengthened, Gao said, adding that officials from the Chinese Ministry of Health and WHO experts were working together currently on measures for SARS prevention and control.

China to Give Full Financial Support to SARS Control

China would spare no money in its effort to bring severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) under control, said the senior health official.

Gao said though it is not possible at present to know how much money is needed for SARS prevention and control, the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance have reached a consensus that the Ministry of

Finance will give full support to the Ministry of Health so long as its budget of expenditure is reasonable.

Gao, who had served as vice-minister of finance for years, said fund will not be a problem affecting the nationwide efforts for SARS prevention and control.

China to adjust plan timely to deal with SARS

China will timely adjust its program for containing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) inlight of the SARS situation, said the executive Vice-Minister of Health.

While taking strict measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic, it is also important to maintain a normal working and living order, Gao said.

The main task for now, he said, is to improve relevant measuresto bring the epidemic under control and to cure more patients.

Gao said Beijing now has more than 300 confirmed SARS cases andmore than 400 suspected cases, part of which could be confirmed, he said. All the patients were hospitalized in late March and early April.

Beijing has a population of more than 10 million and a daily average of four million migrant population, Gao said. Any possiblerises in the case figure in Beijing in the future would not necessarily mean the spread of the epidemic.

To overlook the seriousness of the epidemic or to play up the SARS situation are both wrong and will harm production and people's life, he said.

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