Posted on 04/21/2003 3:02:54 AM PDT by sarcasm
Filed at 5:02 a.m. ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation said on Monday about half of the 402 people suspected to be infected by SARS in Beijing are likely to be confirmed as victims of the virus.
A team of WHO virologists which investigated the outbreak in Beijing thought about 200 of the suspected cases could be classified as probable, or clinically confirmed, Henk Bekedam, the WHO representative in China, told Reuters.
``We're still concerned about the number of suspected,'' Bekedam said a day after the government revealed that Beijing had 339 confirmed SARS cases, not the 37 reported previously. Officials also said there were an additional 402 suspected cases of the virus in the capital.
``The expert team felt from the cases that they had seen that quite a percentage, let's say 50 percent of the cases, most likely could be probable,'' Bekedam said
``That's 200. I think that's correct,'' he said. Beijing's official tally was likely to rise in the coming days as more were shifted over from the ``suspected'' category, he said.
China's Health Ministry announced the new Beijing figure on Sunday following widespread criticism that the city was dramatically under-reporting its toll from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
It also revised its definition of a SARS case and ordered authorities around the country to report numbers using the new definition for the disease, which has killed more than 200 people and infected some 3,900 people worldwide.
Bekedam declined to say if the dramatic increase in the Beijing tally would lead to a WHO travel advisory, like those warning against non-essential travel to the southern province of Guangdong, where SARS first appeared, and Hong Kong.
But he said the criteria for a new global travel advisory the WHO was working on may be highly critical of Beijing.
``Some of the criteria have a lot to do with the government's efforts to curb the disease and on some of those issues, I think, at this very moment, Beijing still has problems with them,'' he said.
``I think we have to be ready that it might be a very critical assessment for Beijing.''
CONCERNED ABOUT SHANGHAI, ELSEWHERE
WHO experts arrived in Shanghai on Monday to investigate the disease and whether hospitals were properly prepared in China's financial hub, where the city government has confirmed two cases and nine suspected cases.
Asked if he thought the Shanghai numbers were accurate, Bekedam said he would be surprised if they did not rise.
``I don't know. But definitely, I think, we are concerned,'' he said. ``We have seen very few countries who can keep that low a number. It would be a surprise to me if it would only remain'' that low.
Bekedam said the sacking of Health Minister Zhang Wenkang and Beijing Mayor Meng Xuenong on Sunday over their botched handling of SARS in Beijing sent a ``very clear signal.''
But Bekedam said he was concerned that central government commitment may be tough to translate into action in the provinces, a chronic problem with unpopular or difficult to implement directives in China.
``I think that's the main challenge now,'' he said. ``Much needs to be done at this stage to be ready for SARS. Some of the provinces already have SARS cases and I think it will be quite a challenge to contain SARS within China, especially those provinces which have very limited resources.''
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