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Hospital in China's Xinjiang Province Quarantines
Staff over SARS Fears
BEIJING, May 1 (AFP) - A hospital in northwest China's
Xinjiang province has transferred more than 100
patients to another facility and quarantined about 25
medical workers after two patients arrived with
SARS-like symptoms, staff said Thursday.
The Atushi or Artux People's Hospital in the city by
the same name has taken the measures after the two
patients arrived last week with fevers, a nurse
surnamed Wang said.
"We've transferred 100 patients to another hospital.
Our hospital is no longer taking regular patients.
They are being told to go to another hospital," she
said.
One of the patients is a businessman who recently
returned from the southwestern province of Sichuan and
the other is a woman from eastern Zhejiang province,
Wang said.
"We can't say they are SARS patients. They were
transferred here from the prefecture hospital which
considered them suspicious cases," she said.
She said both patients were in good condition and
recovering.
In addition to the 25 medical workers, eleven others
who had contact with the patients, including family
members and friends of the patients, are being kept in
the isolation ward, she said.
None of the medical workers or others isolated showed
symptoms, Wang said, adding that the hospital isolated
them because it did not want to take any chances.
According to official statistics, Xinjiang province,
which is populated by Turkic-speaking ethnic Uighur
Muslims, only has one suspected case of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome.
However, an overseas Uighur said he believes there are
more cases, but that they are not being diagnosed as
SARS cases.
"China is more concerned about maintaining social
stability in Xinjiang than revealing the truth," said
Dilixat Raxit, head of the Sweden-based East Turkestan
Information Center.
"The government is afraid that Uighurs will adopt
self-protection measures and try to keep Han Chinese
out of Xinjiang if they know more about SARS. Right
now, many people in Xinjiang know very little about
SARS," he said.
The region is tightly monitored by Chinese authorities
for separatist activities by Uighurs.
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