The Press Office under the Ministry of Health published Friday afternoon a press release on the latest SARS situation on the Chinese mainland. On May 23, 7 provinces reported new SARS cases, of which, 5 provinces reported both new cases and new suspected cases, 2 provinces reported new suspected cases, and the remaining 24 provinces reported no new case.

By 10:00 am May 23, 26 provinces had 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 still reported no diagnosed case; Anhui, Shanghai, Gansu, Jiangsu, Hubei and Hunan reported less than 10 diagnosed cases respectively; Liaoning, Ningxia, Zhejiang, Fujian, Chongqing, Jiangxi and Shandong reported less than 5 diagnosed cases respectively. Hunan, Fujian and Shandong had reported no new case for more than 1 month; Ningxia had reported no new case for 20 days; Jiangxi had reported no new case for 19 days; Henan and Chongqing had reported no new case for 16 days respectively; Zhejiang had reported no new case for 15 days; Shaanxi had reported no new case for 14 days; Anhui had reported no new case for 13 days; Jiangsu and Gansu had reported no new case for 12 days; Tianjin, Jilin and Guangdong had reported no new case for 6 days; and Guangxi had reported no new case for 5 days.

From 10:00 am May 22 to 10:00 am May 23, China reported 20 new cases, 99 patients recovered and 3 deaths. Of the 20 cases, 19 used to be suspected but now are confirmed as SARS patients.

Of these figures:

Beijing reported 15 new cases (of which 14 used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), 54 patients recovered and 2 deaths

Hebei reported 1 new case (which used to be suspected but now confirmed as a SARS patient), and 11 patients recovered

Inner Mongolia reported 1 new case (which used to be suspected but now confirmed as a SARS patient), and 6 patients recovered

Shanghai reported 1 new case (which used to be suspected but now confirmed as a SARS patient)

Sichuan reported 2 new cases (both of which used to be suspected but now confirmed as SARS patients), and 3 recovered

Tianjin reported no new case, and 4 recovered

Shanxi reported no new case, 12 patients recovered and 1 death

Henan and Shaanxi reported no new case, and 1 recovered respectively

Hubei reported no new case, and 2 recovered

Guangdong reported no new case, and 5 patients recovered.

By 10:00 am May 23, China had a total of 5,285 SARS cases (962 medical workers; Beijing reported 6 misdiagnosed cases including 1 medical worker.), which included 2,544 patients who had recovered and been discharged from hospital and 303 deaths. Now 2,438 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals.

From 10:00 am May 22 to 10:00 am May 23, China also reported 40 new suspected cases, including 17 from Beijing, 5 from Hebei, 2 each from Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Sichuan, 1 from Shanghai, and 11 from Guangdong.

From 10:00 am May 22 to 10:00 am May 23, China also reported 95 misdiagnosed suspected cases, of which 29 were from Beijing, 24 from Hebei, 13 from Guangdong, 11 from Shanxi, 8 from Inner Mongolia, 3 from Shanghai, 2 each from Sichuan and Shaanxi, and 1 each from Jiangsu, Henan and Guangxi. By 10:00 am May 23, China had a total of 1,714 suspected cases.

(China.org.cn May 23, 2003)