Monday, June 23, 2003

China reports number of SARS patients falls below 100

BEIJING (AP) - The number of SARS patients reported in China's mainland fell below 100 on Sunday for the first time in months, while the government prepared to lift a tourism ban on Tibet that was imposed to shield the region from the virus.

The Health Ministry reported no new SARS fatalities or cases of infection.

It said hard-hit Beijing - which accounts for more than half of China's death toll of 347 - had recorded no new cases in 11 days.

The announcements came amid sharply falling numbers of SARS cases and the gradual lifting of anti-disease measures that shut down schools and other public facilities in Beijing and curtailed travel.

Beijing is still under a World Health Organization travel advisory, but the agency has lifted advisories on other regions of China.

The number of patients in China's hospitals with SARS fell to 97 on Sunday, down from 123 the previous day, the ministry said. It said 66 of those cases were in Beijing.

The figures were down sharply from the start of June, when Chinese authorities reported 1,750 patients hospitalized - nearly 1,400 of them in Beijing.

Numbers of new cases also have fallen since early May, when more than 150 were being reported daily.

Also Sunday, the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily said the government will lift a ban on tourist travel to Tibet on July 1.

Travel by foreign and Chinese tourists to Tibet and other western regions of China was banned April 25. Authorities had warned of possible disaster if SARS spread into poor regions with adequate health care.

Tibet has reported no SARS deaths or cases, the newspaper said.

"Following the relatively good control of the SARS epidemic across China, especially in Tibet, where no cases or suspected cases have occurred, the region is a relatively safe scenic spot,'' the People's Daily said.

The People's Daily didn't say whether bans on tourist travel to other parts of western China would be lifted. - AP

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China reports number of SARS patients falls below 100