Beijing health officials say nearly 8,000 people have been quarantined after coming into suspected contact with the Sars virus.
Mass quarantines had been ordered in at least five areas of the city, including student dormitories at three campuses, a hospital dormitory and a construction site, the state-run China News Service quoted the city's Sars-control unit as saying.
A total of 7,672 people had been isolated by yesterday morning, while 1,384 had already been released from quarantine, the agency said.
The figures are believed to include hospital staff and patients, plus students and other residents under home quarantine.
World Health Organisation expert Jeffrey McFarland told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that China was slowing international understanding of Sars by continuing to give the 'bare minimum' of data. 'It's a missed opportunity for the world to understand Sars more completely and faster,' he said.
Beijing party chief Liu Qi was quoted by Xinhua as saying the municipal government would start providing more details on Sars infections, including the number of patients in each district, the names of isolated hospitals and residential buildings, and the number of quarantined people. The information will be published in all major Beijing media.