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Beijing hopeful of SARS decline

Beijing has seen huge municipal efforts to beat SARS -- but concerns are shifting to other parts of China
Beijing has seen huge municipal efforts to beat SARS -- but concerns are shifting to other parts of China

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Health officials in Beijing say there are signs that efforts to contain the outbreak of the SARS virus in the city are beginning to have an impact, despite its continuing sweep through the rest of China.

"We have effectively curbed the upward trend of SARS cases," Liang Wannian, deputy director-general of Beijing's health bureau told reporters Friday.

"The number of new cases seems to have reached a plateau and the epidemic is showing signs of declining," he said.

According to Liang, the number of reported SARS cases admitted into hospitals in the Chinese capital has dropped from 70-80 per day for the 12-day period ending May 2, to 30-40 cases a day for the six days ending May 8.

However, with the daily tally of new cases nationwide still well above the 100 mark and signs that the virus is spreading elsewhere in the country, officials say the situation remain critical.

"We can see the situation is turning for the better," said Beijing city spokesman Cai Fuchao. "But the epidemic is still relatively severe and we cannot afford to lower our guard."

Another encouraging sign, city officials said, was a significant drop in the infection rate among medical staff from a daily average of 15.8 percent to 6.3 percent for the week ending May 8.

Nonetheless across China the number of cases is continuing to climb with officials reporting six new deaths and 118 new infections Friday.

HK keeps guard up

Somewhat more encouraging news came from Hong Kong where officials reported two deaths and six new infections -- the lowest tally since the government began giving daily updates on the outbreak in mid-March.

Hong Kong's leader, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa welcomed the news as " very encouraging," but added: "We cannot let down our guard."

In Taiwan however the outlook was less optimistic with officials reporting 18 new hospitalizations of SARS cases, the highest number for a single day on the island since the virus first appeared there two months ago.

On Thursday the United Nations global health body, the World Health Organization (WHO), broadened its SARS global travel advisory urging visitors to avoid non-essential travel to Taipei, capital of Taiwan, and the provinces of Tianjin and Inner Mongolia in mainland China.

The WHO had already issued advisories for Beijing, the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Shanxi and the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong.

Despite the continuing outbreak, Beijing Vice Mayor Fan Boyuan announced that college entrance exams in the city would take place as scheduled on June 7 and June 8.

"The college entrance exams are very important to the public," Fan said.

More than 80,000 students are expected to take the standard national tests which will determine if they can pursue college studies and, if they pass, which schools they will be able to attend.

Results will be announced by phone and via the Internet.

Beijing authorities have ordered the temporary closure of public places like theaters and libraries and suspended the approval of marriages in an effort to prevent gatherings where SARS can be spread.

In other developments:

• A Singapore man was jailed for six months Friday for repeatedly flouting home quarantine orders, police said. Chua Hock Seng was arrested last week after he went out drinking twice flouting medical orders to stay home, a police spokesman said. The jailing marks the first time authorities have invoked tough new quarantine laws passed by parliament last month.

• The World Health Organization said Thursday that new research had shown the SARS virus to be far more deadly than first thought. According to the WHO, the overall death rate from SARS is 15 percent, almost four times higher than the original estimate of four percent. The rate fluctuates depending on country and age, with the agency saying SARS is particularly dangerous for the elderly.


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