The World Health Organization
(WHO) on Friday lifted its warning over severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) virus against non-essential travel to four Chinese
regions, said WHO spokesman Iain Simpson.
"Effective today the World Health Organization is removing its
recommendation that people should postpone all but essential travel
to Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Tianjin regions in China," a
WHO statement said.
The recommendations to consider postponing non-essential travel to
the four regions were issued on April 23 and May 8,
respectively.
"WHO is changing this recommendation as the situation in these
areas has now improved significantly," the statement said.
Information about the decline of outbreaks in the four regions has
been carefully reviewed by WHO and "suggests that SARS is no longer
a potential threat to international travelers to these
regions."
(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2003)
