Although the pneumonia outbreak has been brought under control, Lei Yulan, vice-governor of the province, urged relevant departments to continue their efforts to prevent further spread of the infectious disease.

Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Education has required all schools and kindergartens to disinfect classrooms, dormitories and canteens before the new school term starts next Monday.

And all public buses in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, have been sterilized daily since last Saturday.

Although the virus responsible for the pneumonia outbreak has yet to be identified, medical experts and doctors have been able to determine appropriate treatment to curb the spread of the disease, Lei said.

Lei urged local residents not to be alarmed, saying that pneumonia is treatable.

And many hospitals in Guangzhou have established special fever outpatient departments to help handle possible pneumonia cases and prevent other patients from becoming infected with the virus while in hospital.

If a pneumonia case is diagnosed, the patient will be immediately isolated and transferred to specially designated hospitals for further treatment.

Meanwhile, hundreds of tons of antibiotics and other related medicines are now being transported by air, rail and trucks to Guangdong from around the country.

Huang Wenjie, a respiratory tract disease expert from Guangzhou Military Hospital, said, as long as a patient is treated in time, pneumonia can be brought under control within a week and a complete recovery can be made within two.

According to Lei, more than 50 percent of the province's pneumonia victims were well enough to return to work by Thursday, while those still hospitalized are recovering.

A total of 305 persons, including 105 medical workers, developed pneumonia after contracting an unidentified virus between mid-November and February 9 in the following six cities: Guangzhou, Heyuan, Shenzhen, Foshan, Zhongshan and Jiangmen. Five people have died of the disease.

In another development, an official from Guangdong provincial government Thursday refuted rumours that the province has not enough rice, edible oil and salt.

Guangdong's current rice reserves are capable of supporting local residents for more than six months, the official said.

He urged local residents not to rush out to purchase rice and salt.

Prices of rice, cooking oil and salt rose several times on Wednesday after some overseas media wrongly reported that Guangdong's grain reserves have been dwindling.

A bag of salt which is usually sold for less than one yuan (US$0.12) changed hands at more than 8 yuan (US$0.97) in major cities in Guangdong on Wednesday.

Guangdong Provincial Price Bureau has sent inspection teams to the cities to check the illegal price hikes and is promising to seriously punish those who have illegally raise prices.

(China Daily February 14, 2003)