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[RVN]

A couple of weeks ago my boss said that the Chinese government would make an announcement about SARS on the 15th May, as to how far they have controlled it (or not). Does anyone know anything about this, or even if it's true? If it is, what's the betting that they'll saying everything is under, or coming under control, no matter what the real situation is.

[kathleen]

I think I heard something to that effect and I suspect that it will be a positive announcement. I don't know if I believe any of the numbers. Here in Nanjing we have only 2 confirmed cases, yet over 10,000 people in quarantine and hundreds of thousands of students locked into campus.

There are 11 suspected cases. One suspected case has been downgraded and released. Nevertheless, an 11 month old baby who had the misfortune to accompany her parents to Bejing for a heart operation remains in hospital and has been intubulated but is still only classified as a suspected case. I mean how much sicker does the poor kid have to get before she is confirmed?

I suspect that Jiangsu province and Shanghai are trying to avoid the same kind of economic devastation as Beijing and therefore are underreporting. I mean, they can just say that some people died of other causes, especially the elderly. These are just my feelings; I hope I am wrong!