No cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome （SARS） have been found among foreign students or teachers in the Chinese capital, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Health and Municipal Commission for Educational Affairs announced.
A source with the two municipal organs said Tuesday that there are now 25,000 adult foreign students, and another 400 children of foreign origins who are studying at primary and middle schools or attending kindergartens in Beijing.
Guo Jiyong, deputy head of Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, said a range of measures had been taken to prevent and control the spread of SARS among foreigners in Beijing.
The measures include increased public education about SARS and ways to prevent it, drafting of detailed emergency solutions on SARS, launch of a 24－hour English service hotline, and the designation of two hospitals for treating foreigners with the disease.
Tourists from overseas and residents in Beijing are given English－version brochures about SARS and cards bearing the names of the designated hospitals and related consulting services.
Public places where foreigners often visit and public transportation vehicles have all been disinfected thoroughly.
By the midnight of Monday, a total of 37 people in Beijing had been diagnosed with SARS, four of whom have died, and eight others have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.
(cctv.com April 16, 2003)
