Social factors, especially measures taken by the government, are decisive in reducing SARS cases, said the municipal publicity head Cai Fuchao at a regular press conference on the SARS situation in Beijing Saturday morning, May 31, 2003.

Cai attributed the decline of SARS cases in the city to two kinds of factors, social ones and natural ones.

The measures taken by the city government, an important part of the social factors, proved correct, effective and timely, Cai said.

Those measures include the establishment of SARS-only hospitals and fever clinics, protection of medical workers, mobilization of the public and strengthening of surveillance work.

The changes in the public's life style related to changes in the weather, such as keeping windows open, increasing out-door activities and avoiding crowded public places also helped the decline of the flu-like disease, Cai said.

City's Funding for Fighting SARS at One Billion Yuan

The Beijing municipal authorities have spent 1 billion yuan on fighting SARS, Cai said.

The latest statistics showed that the municipal and district governments have spent more than 1.006 billion yuan (about US$122 million) on containing the SARS epidemic, said Cai.

He said the Beijing municipal government had worked out regulations on the expenses for treatment of SARS patients at the initial stage of the outbreak of SARS.

The department of civil affairs and other government departments are responsible for funding the treatment of SARS patients who enjoy low income insurance and who belong to other needy groups, he said.

Farmers and migrant workers infected with SARS were charged no fees in Beijing's hospitals, Cai said.

Figures Prove Progress in Containing SARS

Cai Fuchao cited a group of figures to justify the marked improvements in the situation of sever acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) Saturday in Beijing .

A comparison of figures collected in the first week of May and those in the latest week excluding Saturday showed the significant progress made, Cai Fuchao said.

The total number of new probable SARS cases in the first week was 666, compared with 65 in the latest week, down more than 90 percent, Cai said.

The total number of people who had recovered and been discharged from hospitals was 81 in the first week, compared with 547 in the latest week, up 500 percent.

And in recent weeks all SARS patients had been hospitalized, Cai added.

Designated SARS Hospitals Reduced to Seven

Beijing has reduced its hospitals designated for SARS patients to seven with new cases declining, said Cai.

The municipal anti-SARS joint task force decided on May 27 to retain only seven of the 16 SARS-only hospitals, except for the hospitals in the aviation and railway systems, according to Cai.

"We will concentrate all SARS patients in the seven hospitals with better medical care facilities," said Cai.

Cai said the seven hospitals have a total of 2503 ward beds but the city's overall number of SARS patients now being hospitalized is only 1377.

That means there are still 1126 beds in reserve in the designated hospitals after the reduction, Cai said, adding the other hospitals will resume normal medical service.

But those hospitals will remain alert and their special medical equipment for treatment of SARS cases will be kept ready, Cai said.

Combined Therapy of Chinese, Western Medicine Effective

Cai said that a therapy combining both traditional Chinese and western medicine proved quite effective in treating SARS.

Cai said the medical practice proved that the combined therapy reduced the average fever period for SARS patients by two days, adding that no patient who received the therapy turned to critical condition.

Cai said that the therapy also worked effectively to decrease the toxic symptom of SARS patients.

The combined therapy helped the human body absorb the inflammation in lungs, Cai said. Statistics from SARS hospitals showed that after 20 days of receiving the combined therapy, 25 out of 30 SARS patients recovered from severe lungs inflammation. According to Cai, half of the SARS patients in Beijing are receiving the combined therapy, and medical workers are continuing their efforts in that direction.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2003)