The Press Office under the Ministry of Health published Sunday afternoon a press release on the latest SARS situation on the Chinese mainland. On May 18, 11 provinces reported new SARS cases, of which, 3 provinces reported both new cases and new suspected cases, 1 province reported new case, 7 provinces reported new suspected cases, and the remaining 20 provinces reported no cases.

By 10:00 am May 18, 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 still reported no diagnosed case; Anhui, Gansu, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan reported less than 10 diagnosed cases respectively; Ningxia, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Fujian, Chongqing, Jiangxi and Shandong reported less than 5 diagnosed cases respectively. Hunan, Fujian and Shandong had reported no new cases for more than 20 days; Ningxia had reported no new case for 15 days; Jiangxi had reported no new case for 14 days; Hubei had reported no new case for 12 days; Henan and Chongqing had reported no new cases for 11 days respectively; Zhejiang had reported no new case for 10 days; Shaanxi had reported no new case for 9 days; Shanghai and Anhui had reported no new cases for 8 days; Jiangsu and Gansu had reported no new cases for 7 days; and Liaoning had reported no new case for 6 days.

From 10:00 am May 17 to 10:00 am May 18, China reported 28 new cases, 70 patients recovered and 2 deaths. Of the 28 cases, 16 used to be suspected but now are confirmed as SARS patients.

Of these figures:

Beijing reported 17 new cases (of which 8 used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), 25 patients recovered and 2 deaths

Tianjin reported no new case and 2 patients recovered

Hebei reported 8 new cases (all of which used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), and 14 patients recovered

Shanxi reported 2 new cases and 15 patients recovered

Inner Mongolia and Anhui reported no new cases and 1 patient recovered respectively

Jilin reported no new case and 3 patients recovered

Guangdong reported no new case and 8 patients recovered.

Guangxi reported 1 new case and 1 patient recovered

By 10:00 am May 18, China had a total of 5,233 SARS cases (959 medical workers), which included 2,079 patients who had recovered and been discharged from hospital and 284 deaths. Now 2,870 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals.

From 10:00 am May 17 to 10:00 am May 18, China also reported 71 new suspected cases, including 32 from Beijing, 2 each from Tianjin and Shanxi, 7 from Hebei, 5 from Inner Mongolia, 3 from Jilin, 1 each from Shanghai, Jiangsu and Henan, and 17 from Guangdong.

From 10:00 am May 17 to 10:00 am May 18, China also reported 105 misdiagnosed suspected cases, of which 57 were from Guangdong, 24 from Beijing, 9 from Hebei, 8 from Shanxi, 4 from Inner Mongolia, and 1 each from Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Guangxi. By 10:00 am May 18, China had a total of 2,082 suspected cases.

(China.org.cn May 18, 2003)