Chinese Mainland Reports 2,914 SARS Cases

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 28, 2003

Chinese Mainland Reports 2,914 SARS Cases

China's Ministry of Health on Sunday afternoon reported a total of 2,914 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on the Chinese mainland by 10:00 a.m. April 27. Of the total, 1,299 patients had been discharged from hospitalsupon recovery and 131 had died.

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Some 161 new cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) were reported on the Chinese mainland in the 24 hours up to 10 am Sunday, said the Ministry of Health.

Nine deaths were reported for the same period, while 14 patients had recovered and were released from hospital.

The total number of SARS patients on the mainland thus reached 2,914 by 10 am Sunday, including 610 medical workers. Out of the total, 131 patients have died and 1,299 have recovered.

In the capital Beijing, 126 new SARS cases were diagnosed by 10 am Sunday, bringing the city's total so far to 1,114.

Premier Wen Jiabao vowed to eventually defeat SARS. On a weekend inspection tour of Beijing, he said he believed that the nation will emerge from the disaster "stronger than ever.''

As he had lunch with Peking University students in their canteen, the premier he said: "My eyes moistened while watching the fluttering five-star red flag (China's national flag) at the ceremony welcoming French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin on Friday.

"The idea came to my mind at that time that the Chinese nation has never been pushed down by the numerous disasters in its history of thousands of years.

"I believe the Chinese people will be even more united, and the Chinese nation will emerge from the SARS disaster stronger than ever.''

On Saturday, Wen visited a construction site, a supermarket, a residential district and Peking University.

At the building site, Wen said all employers of migrant workers in Beijing should improve SARS control and prevention among their workers.

The premier said migrant workers should be given regular physical checks. Employers should pay for immediate physical checks and medical treatment for those showing any symptoms of the disease, he said.

At the Peking University, the premier told overseas students and teachers that the Chinese Government was concerned about their health and would provide every necessary convenience for their studies and work and to prevent the disease.

Wen told the students China would strive to beat the disease while continuing the country's reform, opening-up to the outside world and modernization.

The premier said China would advance more quickly after gaining experience in the fight against the disease. The solidarity and cohesive force of China's various ethnic groups would be consolidated, he added.

In another development, Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi was officially appointed on Saturday to serve concurrently as health minister, replacing Zhang Wenkang.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress overwhelmingly approved Wu's appointment with 137 votes in favour, one against and 10 abstentions.

The 64-year-old vice-premier acquired a reputation for a "swift and resolute'' way of working when she was head of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation.

The State Council, China's cabinet, said on Saturday that it will send a fourth group of SARS monitoring teams to regions that have reported few or no SARS cases to help the local authorities with prevention and treatment.

The teams will be sent to 13 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

The Ministry of Education issued a circular at the weekend forbidding university students who have gone home to return to university for the time being, due to concern over cross-infection.

Beijing Party Secretary Liu Qi and Acting Mayor Wang Qishan Sunday met World Health Organization (WHO) China representative Henk Bekedam.

Bekedam told Xinhua after the meeting that he had seen that the Chinese Government is very serious about SARS and had put very senior people in charge of dealing with SARS, and the WHO is looking forward to working together with departments concerned in fighting SARS.

He said he and his colleagues are impressed by what Beijing hasbeen doing, but he thought that improvement is still needed in communication with the public to let the latter have a better understanding of what is happening, a better understanding of what the figures mean, through which they will also know how to protect themselves.

From Sunday, all major Beijing-based media will publish the number of SARS cases in every district and county of the previous day and the information on the latest quarantine areas as well as the number of quarantined people, Beijing health authorities said.

The following is a breakdown of figures:

I. Total

Areas Cases Discharged Deaths (medical workers) Patients

Beijing 1,114(187) 78 56

Tianjin 22(10) 0 2

Hebei 27(6) 0 0

Shanxi 214(48) 19 9

Inner Mongolia 76(13) 0 6

Liaoning 1 0 0

Jilin 7(2) 0 0

Shanghai 2 0 0

Zhejiang 3 0 0

Anhui 4 0 0

Fujian 3 1 0

Shandong 1 0 0

Henan 10(1) 0 0

Hubei 2(1) 0 0

Hunan 6 5 1

Guangdong 1,382(342) 1,185 51

Guangxi 16 8 3

Sichuan 12 3 2

Shaanxi 5 0 0

Gansu 2 0 0

Ningxia 5 0 1

Total 2,914(588) 1,299 131

II. Newly reported cases (10:00 a.m. April 26 to 10:00 a.m. April 27)

Areas New cases Newly Discharged New Deaths

Patients

Beijing 126 * 2 8

Hebei 6 0 0

Shanxi 19 5 1

Inner Mongolia 2 0 0

Anhui 3 0 0

Guangdong 3 7 0

Sichuan 2 0 0

Total 161 14 9

III. Suspected cases (by 10:00 a.m., April 27)

Areas Suspected Cases

Beijing 1,191

Tianjin 55

Hebei 45

Shanxi 156

Inner Mongolia 162

Liaoning 2

Jilin 3

Heilongjiang 1

Shanghai 12

Jiangsu 3

Zhejiang 6

Anhui 1

Jiangxi 2

Shandong 1

Henan 7

Hubei 13

Hunan 2

Guangdong 202

Guangxi 5

Chongqing 3

Sichuan 17

Shaanxi 25

Gansu 2

Ningxia 3

Xinjiang 2

Total 1,921

*: Of the 126 newly reported SARS cases in Beijing, 76 were newly diagnosed while 50 were suspected-turned-diagnosed cases

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Chinese Mainland Reports 2,753 SARS Cases

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