The Press Office under the Ministry of Health published Thursday afternoon a press release on the latest SARS situation on the Chinese mainland. On May 15, 11 provinces reported new SARS cases, of which, 7 provinces reported both new cases and new suspected cases, 4 provinces reported new suspected cases, and the remaining 20 provinces reported no cases.

By 10:00 am May 15, 25 provinces have reported SARS cases. So far, Hainan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Qinghai provinces, Tibet and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions have not found any cases. Of the provinces having reported suspected or diagnosed SARS cases, Heilongjiang Province still reports no diagnosed case; Shanghai, Anhui, Gansu, Jiangsu, Hubei, and Hunan provinces reported less than 10 diagnosed cases respectively; Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Chongqing, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Fujian, Jiangxi and Shandong provinces reported less than 5 diagnosed cases respectively. Hunan, Fujian and Shandong provinces has reported no new case for 20 days; Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has reported no new case for 13 days; Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has reported no new case for 12 days; Jiangxi Province has reported no new case for 11 days; Hubei Province has reported no new case for 9 days; Chongqing and Henan Province have reported no new case for 8 days, Zhejiang Province has reported no new case for 7 days; Shaanxi Province has reported no new case for 6 days; and Shanghai and Anhui Province have reported no new case for 5 days respectively.

From 10:00 am May 14 to 10:00 am May 15, China reported 52 new cases, 47 patients recovered and 4 deaths. Of the 52 cases, 28 used to be suspected but now are confirmed as SARS patients.

Of these figures:

Beijing reported 27 new cases (of which 12 used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), 5 patients recovered and 1 death

Tianjin reported 3 new cases (all of which used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), 2 recovered and 1 death

Hebei reported 6 new cases (of which 5 used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), 5 patients recovered and 1 death

Shanxi reported 7 new cases (of which 4 used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), 18 patients recovered

Inner Mongolia reported 4 new cases (all of which used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), and 1 death

Jilin reported 2 new cases and 2 recovered

Guangdong reported 3 new cases, and 15 patients recovered.

By 10:00 am May 15, China had a total of 5,163 SARS cases (949 medical workers), which included 1,858 patients who had recovered and been discharged from hospital and 271 deaths. Now 3,034 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals.

From 10:00 am May 14 to 10:00 am May 15, China also reported 86 new suspected cases, including 41 from Beijing, 3 from Tianjin, 7 from Hebei, 6 from Shanxi, 8 from Inner Mongolia, 2 each from Jilin and Shanghai, 1 each from Jiangsu, Anhui and Shaanxi, and 14 from Guangdong.

From 10:00 am May 14 to 10:00 am May 15, China reported 129 misdiagnosed suspected cases, of which, 62 from Guangdong, 20 from Beijing, 18 from Shanxi, 14 from Hebei, 3 each from Henan and Shaanxi, 2 each from Inner Mongolia and Shanghai, 1 each from Tianjin, Liaoning, Jilin, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. By 10:00 am May 15, China had a total of 2,278 suspected cases.

(China.org.cn May 15, 2003)