Shanghai eased its traveling rules yesterday, asking only those with close contact to SARS patients and suspected patients to go through medical quarantine.
Local residents now returning to the city, including from such hard-hit areas as Beijing and Hong Kong, will not be quarantined as an earlier document required.
The new measures be-come effective on Monday.
Officials said the government amended its SARS prevention measures as the epidemic had quieted down, but the entire population should continue to keep a high vigilance.
"We will continue to keep a close eye on the development of the SARS situation in Shanghai and other provinces and adjust our policy accordingly," said Peng Jing, vice director of the Shanghai Health Bureau.
The city reported no new SARS cases or suspected cases yesterday, keeping the figure at eight confirmed case and one suspected case respectively. Of the eight, two have passed away and two have recovered.
Under the new measures, those traveling from hard-hit regions should fill in two forms upon arrival: one for officials at the entry point and the other for either a neighborhood health center, a neighborhood community, a property management company or a hotel within 24 hours.
For those returning from a region not hard-hit by the virus, they are required to fill out one form and hand it to one of the organizations at their residence within 24 hours.
Both categories of travelers should accept a health check involving taking their temperature twice daily at their residence and reporting their whereabouts.
The city's anti-SARS headquarters will name the regions and cities requiring a health check every second day on the government's Website (www.smhb.gov.cn). The list will be in compliance with the list provided by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health.
The new policy also allows companies to organize employee trips to areas without SARS cases or places free of SARS for 20 days.
When all other measures listed on the new policy are considered as relaxation, one measure stands out with a stricter ruling on fever patients. It stipulates that fever patients must wear masks when visiting hospitals, otherwise they will be imposed with punishment.
According to Peng, Shanghai, so far, has quarantined 28,716 people.
"For local citizens under-going quarantine under the previous regulation, they no longer need to be separated as of Monday when the new policy takes effect," Peng added.
(Shanghai Daily June 1, 2003)
