The World Health Organization (WHO) removed Beijing from its list of SARS infected areas and lifted its travel advisory against the capital Tuesday. The following is a timeline on the outbreak and decline of the disease in the city:
-- In the beginning of March, the city reports its first SARS case.
-- April 17, six local hospitals are designated for treating SARS cases;
-- April 21 to the end of the month, the city sees an upheaval in the spread of the disease, with the number of new patients ranging from 90 to 150 daily.
-- In late April, Wang Qishan takes over as acting mayor to lead the city's anti-SARS campaign, saying that only 3.4 percent of the city's 32,000 registered doctors and 34,000 licensed nursesare familiar with respiratory diseases, and the city has no respiratory hospital.
-- Beginning of May, Xiaotangshan Hospital, the country's firstSARS-only hospital is built within a week.
-- May 7, all local SARS patients are moved to designated hospitals.
-- Early May, the number of new cases falls slightly, but remains quite high.
-- May 9, the daily reports of new patients starts to decline markedly; the same day, the number of local medical staff infectedwith SARS also drops significantly, with the daily report of infected medical workers down from an average of 15.81 persons to four.
-- May 19, the number of new cases is seven, in single figures for the first time.
-- June 2, the city reports three "zeros" for the first time: no reports of newly-confirmed outpatients, no newly-confirmed inpatients, and no new SARS deaths.
-- June 6 and 8, two more local hospitals are designated SARS hospitals, including the prestigious Sino-Japanese Friendship Hospital.
-- June 23, Beijing has just 46 confirmed SARS inpatients, while the city has had no reported newly-confirmed patients for 12days in succession.
Local experts attribute the successful control of SARS to the city's timely measures and efforts, including the opening of special clinics for fever patients, protection of medical staff, organization of a 2,500-strong team to investigate the spread of SARS, setting-up of quarantine areas to cut off sources of the disease, and mobilization of local communities to fight SARS.
(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2003)
