Haidian District, home to China's "Silicon Valley," Zhongguancun,
has about the same number of severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) cases as Beijing's other districts, said Yu Jun, spokesman
and also deputy administrator of the district.
Yu's remarks were made to rectify the public's impression that
Haidian was especially hard-hit. In reality, Yu explained, the
number of cases in Haidian is proportionally high because a number
of cases from elsewhere in the city had been sent to hospitals in
Haidian.
As
of 10:00 a.m. on May 4, hospitals in the district had registered
844 confirmed and suspected SARS patients, said Yu, adding that
only 274 of them are permanent residents of the district. The other
570 are from other districts and provinces in the country.
Among the 274 permanent residents of Haidian, 88 are confirmed SARS
patients, he added.
Haidian is home to 29 hospitals, accounting for 75 percent of the
total in Beijing municipality.
The district has redoubled its efforts and adopted new measures in
the fight against SARS, said Yu.
(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2003)