Premier Wen Jiabao Sunday called for solidarity and a reliance on science in the ongoing battle against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). He made the call when joining university students in Beijing Sunday to celebrate the Youth Day, which fell Sunday.
He visited Tsinghua University and China Agriculture University, telling the students there to carry forward the fight against the disease and calling for the Chinese people to unite in the face of common adversity.
A total of 163 new SARS cases including seven deaths were reported on the Chinese mainland in the 24 hours to 10 am Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health.
There were 69 cases and four deaths in Beijing, pushing the totals to 1,803 confirmed and 1,537 suspected SARS cases in the capital. Middle and elementary schools in Beijing will remain closed for another two weeks after the Labour Day holiday. The city's education department ordered the closure to prevent the spread of SARS among 1.37 million students. Most of Beijing's 80 reservoirs are under isolation to prevent possible pollution during the SARS epidemic, sources with the city's water resource departments said Sunday.
Major reservoirs that serve as drinking water stores for the city were blocked out and people have been banned from enter water storage areas. Swimming, fishing and other recreation activities have been temporarily banned in the reservoirs. The number of people under quarantine in Beijing increased to 15,873 by Sunday. The number of people released from quarantine is 4,726. To prevent people and organizations from seeking exorbitant profits from sterilization work, the State Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health jointly banned them from charging for sterilization.
Dozens of organizations that forced vehicles to pay high charge for sterilization were fined. They included a sanitation office in Linxiang of Hunan Province which set up a sanitation station on a national highway to force passing vehicles to pay high sterilization charges. A regulation published by the State Council stressed that only authorities for civil affairs and health, the Red Cross Society of China and the China Charity Federation can accept donations from the public. A total of 62.04 million yuan (US$7.58 million) in donations and materials worth 149 million yuan (US$18.1 million) had been received by these departments by 3 pm on Saturday. The SARS epidemic is threatening the Fourth Women's World Cup in China in autumn.
The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has decided to shift the host country to another. The United States and Australia have submitted their applications to host the event. China was given the right to host the next Women's World Cup in 2007.
(China Daily 04-05-2003)
