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SARS: Taiwan cases still rising
(CNN) -- Following a spike in the numbers a day earlier, Taiwan's Center for Disease Control has announced seven new probable cases of SARS, bringing the cumulative total to 667. Thursday saw a dramatic rise of 50 as health officials shifted a significant number of suspected SARS cases into the probable category. The death toll from the illness on the island held steady at 81 for a second day. Taiwan is currently the most active region in the world for SARS, lagging only behind mainland China and Hong Kong in total cases. China, however, reported just three new cases Thursday, the lowest daily number so far, and officials in Beijing announced a major anti-SARS drive in rural areas. The Taiwan increase came as the World Health Organization said the island was making "important strides" in controlling its SARS crisis -- which came to a head later there than in other affected Asian countries. WHO cited Taiwan's new screening programs and fever clinics. Meanwhile, the number of cases in Toronto has risen sharply as health officials reclassify how they count cases of the disease. (Canada cases on the rise) As of Thursday, the World Health Organization had recorded 8,295 SARS cases and 750 deaths worldwide. China tries to halt rural spreadWith the number of new cases of SARS dwindling in its urban centers, the Chinese government Thursday made prevention and treatment of the disease in the country's vast rural areas a top priority. China's Health Ministry announced the smallest gain in the number of SARS cases in mainland China since the government began properly tracking the illness. The ministry confirmed three new cases -- bringing the total to 5,325 -- and two new SARS-related deaths, raising the death toll to 327. The ministry said all of the new cases and one of the deaths occurred in the hard-hit capital of Beijing. The other death was in neighboring Hebei province. China's central government, in guidance to local governments in rural areas where the majority of China's 1.3 billion people live, acknowledged the SARS situation "remains grave," saying that to put SARS under complete control "the key is in the countryside." The ministries -- including Health, Finance and Agriculture -- promised to provide free treatment and hospitalization for peasants with SARS. The guidance also called for training rural medical workers to deal with the epidemic, as well as educating confirmed and suspected SARS patients in the countryside to follow strict quarantine rules. The Hong Kong government said on Friday one more person had died of the disease and it had infected four others. New responseEarlier the World Health Organization announced new measures to respond to health threats in the wake of the global SARS outbreak. (Full story) The resolution -- which includes plans for on-the-spot investigations, enhanced communications, and broader sources of reporting -- was agreed on at the annual meeting of the organization. "This is an extremely significant step for international public health," WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland said of the resolution.
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