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 22, 8 provinces reported new SARS cases, of which, 5 provinces reported both new cases and new suspected cases, 3 provinces reported new suspected cases, and the remaining 23 provinces reported no case.

By 10:00 am May 22, 26 provinces have reported SARS cases. So far, Hainan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Qinghai provinces and Tibet Autonomous Region have not found any case. Of the provinces having reported suspected or diagnosed SARS cases, Heilongjiang and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported no diagnosed case; Anhui, Gansu, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hubei and 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 case for over one month; Ningxia had reported no new case for 19 days; Jiangxi had reported no new case for 18 days; Henan and Chongqing had reported no new case for 15 days respectively; Zhejiang had reported no new case for 14 days; Shaanxi had reported no new case for 13 days; Shanghai and Anhui had reported no new case for 12 days; Jiangsu and Gansu had reported no new case for 11 days; Sichuan had reported no new case for 6 days; Tianjin, Jilin, and Guangdong had reported no new case for 5 days.

From 10:00 am May 21 to 10:00 am May 22, China reported 26 new cases, 110 patients recovered and 4 deaths. Of the 26 cases, 19 used to be suspected but now are confirmed as SARS patients.

Of these figures:

Beijing reported 15 new cases (of which 11 used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), 81 patients recovered and 2 deaths

Hebei reported 6 new cases (of which 3 used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), and 9 patients recovered

Shanxi reported 2 new cases (both used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), and 5 patients recovered

Inner Mongolia reported 1 case (which used to be suspected but now confirmed as a SARS patient) and 3 patients recovered

Liaoning reported 2 new cases (both used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients)

Tianjin reported no new case, 1 patient recovered and 1 death

Jilin reported no new case and 4 patients recovered

Henan, Hubei, and Sichuan reported no new case and 1 recovered respectively

Guangdong reported no new case, 4 patients recovered and 1 death

By 10:00 am May 22, China had a total of 5,271 SARS cases (961 medical workers), which included 2,445 patients who had recovered and been discharged from hospital and 300 deaths. Now 2,526 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals.

From 10:00 am May 21 to 10:00 am May 22, China also reported 41 new suspected cases, including 22 from Beijing, 8 from Guangdong, 5 from Shanxi, 2 from Shanghai, 1 each from Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning and Xinjiang.

From 10:00 am May 21 to 10:00 am May 22, China also reported 91 misdiagnosed suspected cases, of which 26 were from Guangdong, 27 from Beijing, 15 from Inner Mongolia, 8 from Shanxi, 4 from Tianjin, 3 from Shaanxi, 2 from Shanghai, and 1 each from Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Henan, Guangxi and Sichuan. By 10:00 am May 22, China had a total of 1,788 suspected cases.

(China.org.cn May 22, 2003)