The General Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, has issued an urgent circular urging college students and migrant workers in Beijing and other severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-infected areas to stay put in an effort to prevent the spread of SARS.
The number of SARS cases in parts of Beijing, Shanxi Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is increasing. According to "The Law of the People's Republic of China on Epidemic Prevention", university students and migrant workers in Beijing and other SARS infected areas are urged to stay where they are and to keep on studying and working to efficiently curb the spread of the infection.
The circular asks universities in Beijing and other SARS infected areas to adjust teaching and study methods, to strengthen monitoring and prevention and to contain the spread of the disease.
University professors and student cadres were asked to persuade students to remain on campus to ensure normal teaching, lifestyle and school stability.
Working units with large numbers of migrant workers are responsible for these employees. In the event that a SARS case is detected, they should provide all possible treatment methods and are forbidden from sending migrant workers home.
With respect to individual migrant workers returning to their hometowns, the working units should give them medical check-ups and notify their hometowns. In the case of workers who have already returned to their hometowns, the local government should monitor their health condition.
The circular stressed that all relevant departments should effectively carry out quarantine, prevention and treatment work on travelers. Disinfection and quarantine work should cover airplanes, trains, ships, buses, airports, railway stations and ports. In the event that a SARS patient is identified, he or she should be placed in isolation and treated on the spot.
(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2003)
