Wrap-Up: China Reports 1,807 SARS Cases

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

Wrap-Up: China Reports 1,807 SARS Cases

A total of 1,807 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland by April 18, according to a press release Sunday afternoon in Beijing.

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China Holds Press Conference on SARS

A total of 1,807 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland by April 18, according to a press release Sunday afternoon in Beijing.

Vice Minister Gao Qiang of the Ministry of Health told a press conference hosted by the State Council Information Office in Beijing that of the total, 79 patients had died, while 1,165 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospital.

Of the accumulative number of SARS cases, 1,304 were in Guangdong Province, 108 in Shanxi Province, 25 in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 12 in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, six in Hunan Province, five in Sichuan Province, three in Fujian Province, two in Shanghai, two in Henan Province and one in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Beijing reported a total of 339 confirmed cases and 402 suspected SARS cases. Of the total, 18 patients died, and five foreigners were diagnosed to have SARS and another four were suspected of the disease, Gao said.

Another seven new confirmed SARS cases on Saturday, April 19, were not yet counted in the total cases of the city issued Sunday, Gao said, adding that the new cases will be announced during the daily report on Monday, April 21.

Gao said that the difficulties in diagnosing SARS, a disease never known to mankind so far, caused that the latest figure of SARS cases in Beijing was far bigger than that released several days ago.

A lack of effective communication and information exchanges among the 70 hospitals in Beijing, which were managed by different departments, was another major reason, the official said.

According to Gao, there were 175 hospitals of second grade or higher in Beijing. Among them, 131 are at municipal, district and county levels, 14 belonging to the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, 16 run by the military and armed forces and 14 belonging to various industries.

Gao said the fact that the Ministry of Health had not been well prepared for public health emergencies and the epidemic control system was comparatively weak also contributed to the sharp rise of SARS cases in Beijing.

Gao 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, adding that no local governments had been found so far to cover up the situation concerning SARS.

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

The central government had already dispatched supervision groups to Guangdong, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Henan and Ningxia to scrutinize and confirm the SARS statistics released by local governments, Gao said.

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

In particular, efforts have been redoubled to monitor and prevent 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 health-care subsidies to medical workers treating the disease.

Hospitals are not allowed to reject SARS patients under any circumstances, including financial reasons, Gao said, adding that those who reject SARS patients will be punished seriously if discovered. said Gao.

Gao said that six hospitals in Beijing have been designated for SARS patients and their addresses and phone numbers have been publicized. Some well-equipped hospitals are required to set up isolated section for respiratory diseases.

Chinese hospitals had stocked adequate drugs to help people improve their own immunity so as to fend off infection by SARS when there is no special effective medicine for curing SARS patients, Gao said.

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

Local travel was still encouraged although the Chinese government decided to cancel the week-long May Day holidays, which may cause great losses to the country's tourism industry. The moveis aimed to discourage large-scale traveling nationwide, and does not mean an end to tourism, he said.

China will timely adjust its program for containing SARS in light of the SARS situation, Gao said, adding it is also important to maintain a normal working and living order while taking strict measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic.

Any possible rises in the case figure in Beijing, a city with a population of more than 10 million and a daily average of four million migrant population, would not necessarily mean the large-scale spread of the epidemic, Gao said.

China was taking further measures to contain the spread of SARS and to protect foreigners and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and China would not accept claims that it was the safest place in the world nor it was a very dangerous place to come at present as there was SARS, Gao said.

It was quite necessary to maintain normal international exchanges since China has been strengthening the prevention and control of the disease, Gao said.

According to the Beijing Municipal Health Administration, a series of measures have been taken in Beijing to prevent and control the disease for the benefit of the people from overseas. The measures include popularizing knowledge of SARS and ways to prevent it, formulating detailed emergency plans, opening a 24-hour English service hotline, and designating two hospitals for foreigners.

The Chinese government has been on high alert to prevent the possible spread of SARS in rural areas though there is no report of large number of SARS cases there but the disease, which might cause "serious consequences", "is possible to be brought there by the returned migrant workers." Gao said.

Measures have been taken for SARS prevention and control in the rural areas, Gao said, including the measures to ensure hygiene of all vehicles, to provide equal medical service to rural laborers and urban residents, and give financial support to farmers who contract the disease.

Experts from World Health Organization (WHO) will go to China's biggest business hub Shanghai and some western areas Monday to inspect the prevention and treatment of SARS, according to Vice-Minister of Health Zhu Qingsheng.

China has kept close contact with WHO and some other countries and regions where SARS cases are found. The diagnosis standards adopted by Chinese doctors on confirmed SARS cases and suspected cases are "basically consistent" with those of other countries and regions, Zhu said at the press conference.

The cooperation between China and WHO has been vigorous, successful and gratifying, and WHO experts spoke positively of China's contributions to the world in SARS diagnosis and treatment, said Zhu.

The Chinese mainland, which is among the countries and regions reporting the SARS cases, has reported the biggest number of SARS cases so far, and it should and can make contributions in this regard, the official said.

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China Holds Press Conference on SARS

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