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WHO experts to visit SARS-gripped Chinese province
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- World Health Organization officials prepared to travel Wednesday to a hard-hit Chinese province as China's Ministry of Health confirmed 159 new cases of SARS on the mainland and five new SARS-related deaths. "We feel the team can make a difference" in Hebei Province, said Alan Schnur of WHO's China office. "It's still early on in the epidemic. Our input at this stage could prevent the situation developing into a large outbreak." As of Tuesday, the number of probable severe acute respiratory syndrome cases in Hebei had risen sharply to 113. Between April 30 and Sunday, the numbers doubled to 98. There are also about 100 suspected SARS cases in the province. "The level of development in the province is also above average," Schnur said, "so any recommendations made can be quickly implemented, although resources will still be stretched." Four WHO experts will leave Thursday with officials from China's Ministry of Health for the province, which surrounds Beijing and is home to some of the capital's "floating population" of migrant workers. "There's a lot of movement between the province and the capital so we are concerned about the potential for the disease to spread," Schnur added. With the latest figures, 219 people in mainland China have died from the disease, and 4,560 have been infected, according to the health ministry. Of the 159 new cases, 97 were in Beijing, the ministry said. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the battle against SARS remains "grave" and much work remains to be done to contain it, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday. "Beijing has made progress in the fight against SARS, but the situation still remains grave," Wen said during a visit to the Xiaotangshan Hospital, a hastily finished SARS facility in suburban Beijing. Hospital staff hit hardThe spread of the virus is placing a growing strain on hospitals and medical workers in China's capital. A worrisome statistic for Chinese officials is that nearly 18 percent of SARS cases involve medical workers, Beijing city spokesman Cai Fuchao said. The resulting impact on staffing has prompted the central government to move more than 1,000 doctors and nurses from Chinese army hospitals and from other regions of the country to augment the Beijing hospitals. Officials said they also have begun to take measures to ease the burden on medical workers. Beijing authorities temporarily have taken over 74 hotels, guesthouses and resorts to house the doctors and nurses who have been working on the front lines of the epidemic for several weeks, Cai said. Many have not seen their families to avoid spreading infection. Cai also provided Beijing's first demographic breakdown of the outbreak: More than 70 percent of SARS cases are in people between 20 and 50 years old; about 9 percent of cases occurred in those 19 and younger; and roughly 21 percent of cases occurred in people older than 50. Mounting tensionMore than 16,000 Beijing residents remain quarantined. They have been placed in residential buildings, on university campuses, at construction sites and at scores of hospitals. The majority of those under quarantine are suspected of having been in contact with SARS, with no confirmation that they carry the disease. Meanwhile, Chinese health authorities said more than 1,400 SARS patients have been released from treatment, showing no signs of recurring symptoms. The perceived threat of the illness has led to increased tensions in recent days as worried villagers protested against the SARS detention centers in their regions, Chinese officials said. At least one of the demonstrations turned violent, with villagers ransacking a building intended for patients. CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Jaime FlurCruz and Correspondent Lisa Rose Weaver contributed to this report.
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