The number of SARS cases in the nation's capital will be in decline at the end of next week, a renowned medical scientist has forecast.

Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Respiratory Disease Research Institute, said the SARS virus lasted roughly four months from its discovery to disappearance.

Zhong's prediction, revealed earlier this week after delivering a report to various officials, is based on the experience of fighting SARS in south China's Guangdong Province.

Zhong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has been devoted to the cause since late last year.

But he also said it still needs another before a firmer prediction can be made.

Latest statistics show Beijing had 98 new cases in the 24 hours to 10 am Monday, bringing the confirmed total to 1,897.

Three new deaths were reported Monday in Beijing, the hardest hit city, according to Ministry of Health sources.

The Chinese mainland reported 160 new cases and nine new deaths in the 24 hours to 10 am Monday, the ministry announced.

The mainland's total number of cases has risen to 4,280 and the death toll has reached 206.

So far, SARS has not had much of an impact on the nation's vast western region. No cases have been found in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Guizhou Province and Yunnan Province, as well as northwest China's Qinghai Province.

Meanwhile, a total of 2,604 suspected cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland by Monday, up 177 from the previous figure.

Currently, a total of 2,641 confirmed patients are in hospital receiving medical treatment and another 1,433 patients have recovered and left hospital.

In another development, the Ministry of Health has revised the National Clinical Diagnosis Standard for SARS, which was issued on April 14.

The changes were made after learning about the disease from experiences in Beijing and Guangdong, the two regions on the mainland with the biggest number of cases.

A new symptom description was added for SARS patients as a few people do not experience a high fever, especially those who have undergone an operation recently or those who have other diseases.

The move also revised the description of chest X-ray examination results for SARS patients.

Chinese health officials and scholars and specialists from the United States held a seminar in Beijing Monday to better co-operate in the prevention and treatment of the disease.

The participants exchanged information about the control over and research on SARS, and discussed possible co-operation in an effort to get effective preventative methods and find ways to cure the disease, said Li Xueyong, vice-minister of science and technology.

Meanwhile, young volunteers in North and West China have begun to devote themselves to various SARS prevention services, in response to a call from the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League.

(China Daily May 6, 2003)