The World Health Organization removed its travel advisory in four Chinese
provinces today in a sign that the SARS virus is slowly being contained.
The WHO has taken all Chinese cities except Beijing and Taiwan off the
list of areas with recent transmissions, including Guangdong, where SARS is
believed to have originated in November.
Only Beijing and Taiwan still have warnings against all but essential
travel, the WHO said in Geneva. At the same time, the WHO upgraded the threat in
Toronto because a previously unidentified case of SARS is believed to have been
imported.
Because the Guangdong, Hubei, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Jiangsu, Shanxi and
Tainjin regions have had no new cases for the last 20 days, they are no longer a
potential threat to travelers, the WHO said.
