Last Two SARS Patients Discharged from Hospital

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, August 17, 2003

Last Two SARS Patients Discharged from Hospital

Chinese mainland's last two patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) have fully recovered and were discharged from hospital Saturday after more than 100 days of medical treatment.

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Last Two SARS Patients Discharged from Hospital (II)

Chinese mainland's last two patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) have fully recovered and were discharged from hospital Saturday after more than 100 days of medical treatment.

The two patients, Lu Zhiyan, a 45-year-old female medical worker, and Sun Zheng, a 19-year-old university student, left the Ditan Hospital in Beijing at 9:40 a.m. Saturday.

The two were hospitalized in April after being diagnosed as SARS patients. Doctors declared that the two patients were free of SARS symptoms three weeks ago. They stayed in hospital to date to undergone treatment on complications caused by SARS.

"With the release of the last SARS patients in China, a very important chapter of the global fight against infectious disease has been closed," said Henk Bekedam, World Health Organization representative in China, at a gathering marking the discharge of Chinese mainland's last SARS patients and recovery of normal medical work in the Ditan Hospital on Saturday.

Last Two SARS Patients Discharged from Hospital

But "the fight against SARS is not yet over. We must remain vigilant as we do not know for certain whether SARS will return again," he warned.

He also thanked and congratulated the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party for their achievements in fighting against SARS.

Also on Saturday, the Chinese Ministry of Health declared that there is no more SARS cases on the Chinese mainland and announced that it would suspend its daily report on SARS situation.

But the ministry noted that suspension of the daily report did not mean that the fight against SARS is over. It called on nationwide medical workers to remain vigilant and to be fully prepared for challenges brought about by possible return of SARS.

According to the ministry, 24 Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China have were hit by the SARS epidemic since early this year.

As of 10 a.m. August 16, a total of 5,327 SARS cases were reported on the Chinese mainland, 4,959 patients were cured and discharged from hospital. Death toll from the disease stood at 349.

Of the total figure, 2,521 SARS cases and 193 deaths from the disease were reported in Beijing.

In the middle of May this year, the number of hospitalized SARS patients topped 1,900 in the national capital.

"No body would doubt that the figure would become zero some day," said Sun Zheng, "but I did think that I will be a witness of this important moment."

As the last hospital on the Chinese mainland which was designated to treat SARS patients, Ditan Hospital began to receive common patients Saturday.

Zhu Qingsheng, vice minister of health, used the words "exciting and calmness" to express his reflection to this moment.

He warned medical workers of Ditan Hospital to be fully prepared for possible return of the SARS disease and make everything ready for taking in patients within 24 hours if the disease did return.

More than 300 SARS patients were cured and discharged from Ditan Hospital over the past five months.

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