China, under fire at home and abroad for failing to disclose the extent of its SARS infections, has sharply raised its number of cases to 1,807 from 1,512 and has revealed scores of new infections in Beijing.
The bulk of the new cases came in the capital, where the number of infections was estimated at an alarming 339, and the city had another 402 suspected case as of April 18, China's Vice Health Minister Gao Qiang said in a statement today.
Up until Sunday, officials had reported only 37 infections in Beijing, despite estimates from Chinese doctors and World Health Organisation experts of a far higher toll.
There was no immediate explanation as to why the number of new cases in Beijing was more than the number of new cases for all of China.
Gao said 79 people had died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) nationwide in China, up from the previously reported 67, since the virus emerged in the southern province of Guangdong in November. It leapt to Hong Kong in late February and spread around the world.