WHO declares Beijing free of SARS

The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday lifted its travel warning against Beijing and declared capital of the nation where the SARS outbreak began to be free of the disease.

Beijing was the last place in the world under a WHO advisory urging travelers to avoid non-essential travel because of concerns about SARS, which first surfaced in southern China in November.

Toronto and Taiwan remain on a WHO list of places with recent local transmissions of the disease, but travel advisories against them have been lifted.

The SARS crisis peaked in March and April before ebbing worldwide as officials moved to isolate patients in quarantines and screen travelers for symptoms. The disease killed more than 800 people and infected more than 8,400.

Shigeru Omi, WHO regional director for the western Pacific region, said the decision to lift the Beijing advisory was based on factors including the number of current SARS cases, quality of surveillance and the effectiveness of prevention measures.

"After careful analysis, WHO has concluded that the risk to travelers to Beijing is now minimal," Omi told a news conference in Beijing yesterday.

Beijing also was simultaneously removed from a WHO list of places with recent local transmissions of the disease.

Removal from the recent transmissions list comes after a place has gone 20 days since isolating its last confirmed case of SARS -- defined as twice the incubation period of the disease.

"WHO has concluded that the chain of person-to-person transmission in Beijing has been broken," Omi said.

The number of people hospitalized with SARS in Beijing fell to 43 yesterday, the Health Ministry said. That was down from more than 1,000 at the height of the epidemic, which prompted Beijing to build a special SARS isolation facility.

Airlines, hotels and other travel-dependent businesses welcomed the end of the WHO advisory. They were devastated as Chinese and foreign tourists and businesspeople heeded warnings to avoid Beijing and other SARS-affected areas. Chinese airlines said passenger numbers nationwide fell by up to 83 percent last month.

"It is a monumental affair for the recovery of the Chinese civil aviation industry," said Cai Zhizhou, chief spokesman for China Southern Airlines, the country's biggest carrier. Cai said the airlines should recover gradually but "pretty fast."

A senior Chinese health official said authorities will temporarily continue checking travelers for fevers -- a possible sign of SARS -- at airports and bus stations.

"We must not let down our vigilance," Gao Qiang (高強), the executive deputy health minister, said at the news conference with Omi.

However, he appeared to forget his country's claims to Taiwan when he said that China was now completely free of SARS.

"The lifting of the travel advisory against Beijing and the removal of Beijing from the list of areas with recent local transmissions ... demonstrated that the gratifying achievement made by Beijing in SARS control and prevention have won full recognition by the international community," Gao said.

"This means that no place, no province or city or autonomous region in China is under any travel advisory and none of them are on any list of places of recent local transmissions," he said.

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