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WHO maintains SARS travel warning on Beijing
Beijing, June 14: While maintaining its SARS travel warning on Beijing city, the World Health Organisation has lifted the travel advisory against non-essential travel to four Chinese regions following `significant improvement` in the epidemic situation in these areas.
Beijing, June 14: While maintaining its SARS travel warning on Beijing city, the World Health Organisation has lifted the travel advisory against non-essential travel to four Chinese regions following "significant improvement" in the epidemic situation in these areas.
"Effective yesterday, the WHO is removing its
recommendation that people should postpone all but essential
travel to Hebei, inner Mongolia, Ahanxi, and Tianjin regions
in China," a WHO statement said.
The recommendations to consider postponing non-essential travel to the four regions were issued on April 23 and May eight, respectively, to minimise the international spread of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic.
"WHO is changing this recommendation as the situation in these areas has now improved significantly," the statement said, a day after who's executive director for communicable diseases, David Heymann visited China and held talks with senior officials here.
Information about the decline of outbreaks in the four regions has been carefully reviewed by WHO and "suggests that SARS is no longer a potential threat to international travellers to these regions," it said.
The WHO statement made no mention about China's capital, Beijing, the worst-hit city in the world from SARS.
The WHO recommendations to postpone travel are issued following consideration of several factors, including the magnitude of current SARS cases, the pattern of recent local transmission, and the last dates of export of cases, it said. Bureau Report
The recommendations to consider postponing non-essential travel to the four regions were issued on April 23 and May eight, respectively, to minimise the international spread of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic.
"WHO is changing this recommendation as the situation in these areas has now improved significantly," the statement said, a day after who's executive director for communicable diseases, David Heymann visited China and held talks with senior officials here.
Information about the decline of outbreaks in the four regions has been carefully reviewed by WHO and "suggests that SARS is no longer a potential threat to international travellers to these regions," it said.
The WHO statement made no mention about China's capital, Beijing, the worst-hit city in the world from SARS.
The WHO recommendations to postpone travel are issued following consideration of several factors, including the magnitude of current SARS cases, the pattern of recent local transmission, and the last dates of export of cases, it said. Bureau Report