China said today there were signs the SARS crisis in Beijing could be easing, but the World Health Organization (WHO) responded by warning against complacency.
Beijing accounts for most of the victims of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in mainland China, with 114 fatalities, 2,177 confirmed cases and more than 18,000 people in quarantine.
However, the epidemic showed signs of declining in the Chinese capital, epidemiologist Mr Liang Wannian said. The number of SARS patients admitted to the city's hospitals had fallen to between 30 and 40 a day over the past week from 70 to 80 between April 21 and May 2, he said.
"Overall, we can say that the upward tendency of SARS cases has been effectively checked in Beijing," said Mr Liang, who is also vice director of the Beijing Health Bureau.
His upbeat assessment appeared to be backed by just 48 new cases being reported in Beijing today, the lowest daily figure since the government admitted covering up the extent of the crisis on April 20th.
The WHO warned, however, that it was premature to say the crisis had peaked in Beijing. "Some of the figures recently have been encouraging, but until a proper epidemiological study can be done we can't conclude that it is really declining," an WHO spokeswoman said. "We are still not getting a lot of adequate new data from China but it is getting better."
The WHO regards China as the key battleground in the global fight to stop the spread of SARS, which has claimed more than 500 lives and infected more than 7,000 people in around 30 countries since it first emerged.
A further six deaths - two in Beijing - and 118 new cases were confirmed across China, taking the nationwide death toll to 230 and the cumulative number of cases to 4,805.
Hong Kong, the worst-affected area outside mainland China, revealed two more deaths and six more cases, taking the city's death toll to 210, with 1,667 confirmed infections.
In the Taiwanese capital Taipei, authorities sealed off a five-storey apartment complex after one elderly resident was suspected to have died of SARS and two others developed suspicious symptoms.
SARS has spread throughout Asia and deaths have also been recorded in Singapore (27), Taiwan (13), Vietnam (five), Malaysia (two), the Philippines (two) and Thailand (two).
Canada is the only country outside Asia to report SARS-linked deaths, with 23 fatalities.
AFP