Beijing issued regulations on Thursday for a three-level emergency alert to prevent the reappearance of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

When SARS cases are found in neighboring areas of Beijing and the capital city reports one case, the city will institute the third-level alert and Ditan Hospital, a hospital for epidemic diseases, would be put into use. Schools would be required to take students' temperatures every day and school access would be strictly controlled.

The alert will be raised to the second level when the capital reports six or more SARS cases and has three or more outbreak locations. Schools which report diagnosed or suspected cases might suspend class and You'an Hospital and the Chest Hospital might be put into use. Quarantine measures would also be taken.

When the city sees 30 or more diagnosed cases, the first level of alert will be sounded. Xiaotangshan Hospital, built during the SARS outbreak this spring, will be used and health checks will be strictly imposed at accesses to the capital. Also, a health condition report system will be put into use in hotels.

While a SARS prevention office has been set up in the municipal health bureau, the regulations stipulate that all district and county governments should be held liable in the prevention of SARS.

(People’s Daily September 12, 2003)