Beijing running out of beds for SARS patients as isolation ward opens

BEIJING’S SARS outbreak remains severe and hospitals handling the disease don’t have room for all suspected cases, the city’s new mayor said yesterday, adding that the first 195 patients were being moved into a new isolation unit.

In hard-hit Hong Kong, health authorities said 12 SARS patients have suffered relapses days after doctors declared them recovered a development that had researchers concerned, according to one official.

Authorities there reported seven more SARS deaths yesterday, bringing Hong Kong's total to 157, but said there were only 17 new infections. China reported 11 new SARS fatalities eight in Beijing bringing its toll to 157. It has 3,460 reported infections.