A total of 4,322 local residents have sought medication for gastrointestinal illness after the tap water supply was contaminated by rainfall on July 23 in Chifeng city, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The number was 4,215 two days earlier, the local health bureau said on Monday.

So far, 3,861 people have been cured, 87 are still hospitalized and 374 more are receiving medical treatment at local out-patient departments, according to the bureau.

The patients complained of fever, diarrhea, stomachache and vomiting after drinking tap water since the night of July 25.

On Saturday, affected local residents began to stop using tap water as the city sanitized the municipal tap water system. The tap water supply is to be resumed in 72 hours if water quality is proved to meet national standards by then, according to a local government notice.

Since Tuesday, the local government has sent 18 fire engines to supply water to 18 affected communities. Free medication for all the victims has been offered since July 27.

The contaminated well provides tap water for Chifeng's "new city center," a 17-square km area with a population of 58,000 people.

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2009)