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Too early to tell if SARS is peaking in Beijing: WHO
Beijing, May 06: The World Health Organisation (WHO) said today it was too early to tell if the SARS outbreak was peaking in Beijing, despite predictions by a leading Chinese virologist that the capital had seen the worst of the crisis.
Beijing, May 06: The World Health Organisation (WHO) said today it was too early to tell if the SARS outbreak was peaking in Beijing, despite predictions by a leading Chinese virologist that the capital had seen the worst of the crisis.
"It's too early to tell if the epidemic is peaking in Beijing," Alan Schnur, a Beijing-based WHO virologist monitoring the spread of SARS in China told a news agency.
Beijing reported 69 new cases of SARS on Sunday, the lowest number of new cases since April 20, when the city mayor was fired for a botched cover up of the epidemic and the capital allegedly began reporting the true situation.
However, yesterday the numbers jumped back up to 98, quashing hopes in the capital that a peak had been reached.
"One day does not make a trend, we are awaiting additional data to see what is really happening in Beijing," Schnur said.
Chinese virologist Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guang Zhou Respiratory Disease Research Institute, told the China daily that the number of SARS cases in Beijing could start to decline by the end of next week.
Zhong's findings were based on the outbreak in Guangdong province which broke out in November and peaked in mid to late February "roughly four months from its discovery," the paper said.
"It still needs another week before a firmer prediction can be made," he was quoted as saying.
WHO's Schnur concurred with Zhong's analysis, but said the numbers still could be high for a while.
Bureau Report
However, yesterday the numbers jumped back up to 98, quashing hopes in the capital that a peak had been reached.
"One day does not make a trend, we are awaiting additional data to see what is really happening in Beijing," Schnur said.
Chinese virologist Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guang Zhou Respiratory Disease Research Institute, told the China daily that the number of SARS cases in Beijing could start to decline by the end of next week.
Zhong's findings were based on the outbreak in Guangdong province which broke out in November and peaked in mid to late February "roughly four months from its discovery," the paper said.
"It still needs another week before a firmer prediction can be made," he was quoted as saying.
WHO's Schnur concurred with Zhong's analysis, but said the numbers still could be high for a while.
Bureau Report