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China sees hope in new SARS figuresBut WHO officials warn it's too early to say disease contained
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China reported its lowest daily increase in new SARS cases in weeks amid government claims the country has seen the worst of the disease. China's Ministry of Health on Wednesday reported five new deaths -- all in Beijing -- and 55 new cases of the illness in mainland China -- 39 in the capital, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. It was the fifth straight day the number of new severe acute respiratory syndrome cases on the Chinese mainland remained below 100. But experts at the World Health Organization said they remain unconvinced, saying it is premature to claim the virus has been contained in China. "The bottom line is it is too early to state that the epidemic is tailing down, but we do hope to see that in the next few weeks," said WHO official Keiji Fukuda. WHO's cautious approach follows comments by Beijing officials that "effective measures" taken in recent days are behind a drop in cases in the capital. (Full story) Through Tuesday, WHO had tallied more than 5,000 SARS cases in China since the outbreak began. The national death toll was at 262. Meanwhile, experts said they are worried that SARS could be spreading into the inland provinces. Last week, a WHO team visited Hebei, a densely populated province neighboring Beijing. Millions of Hebei's migrant workers have returned home -- some of them perhaps carrying SARS -- because they lost their jobs in the city or because they feared getting the disease. Health officials said they worry that local hospitals are poorly equipped. "We're a little concerned in several of the places that there might not be enough beds -- the experience we saw in Beijing," said WHO's James Maguire, "and we also looked closely at infection control." Experts have suggested changes in infection control procedures to improve health workers' safety. Chinese officials have fanned out in the provinces, visiting the front line to boost the morale of health-care workers. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has promised money and resources to provide free treatment, food and state subsidies to poor SARS patients. Worldwide, more than 7,500 SARS cases and 573 deaths have been recorded, according to WHO. Meanwhile, two dozen patients and three health-care workers at Singapore's main mental hospital may have dashed the city-state's hopes of being free of SARS. All are suspected SARS cases, the first in Singapore since April 27. The cluster of suspected cases occurred despite a government ban on hospital visitors in effect since the end of April. In Hong Kong, where the impact of SARS has been subsiding, two more deaths and nine new cases of the disease were reported Wednesday. New cases in the former British colony have been in the single digits for more than a week.
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