Beijing, June 24: The World Health Organization today said it had lifted its travel advisory on Beijing and removed it from the list of areas affected by SARS. "The WHO has decided that the travel advisory against Beijing will be lifted. This decision is based on comprehensive analysis of the situation in Beijing," Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, said at a press conference. "Beijing is now removed from the list of areas with recent local transmission," said the doctor.
The announcement comes a day after Hong Kong was also taken off the WHO list of SARS-infected countries.
More than 800 people around the world have died from the respiratory disease, nearly half of them in China. Beijing had been the city worst affected by SARS in the world. Over the course of the outbreak, 2521 cases of SARS were reported in Beijing and 191 people in the city died. At the height of the disease, more than 100 cases were being reported every day.
However, last case of SARS in Beijing was isolated on 29 May and no new cases have recently been exported from the city. Bureau Report