A 200-bed medical centre in Beijing has started accepting patients for Sars observation, after sending away all those with unrelated illnesses.
A spokesman for Chaoyang district, where the hospital is located, said it was the only dedicated Sars observation unit in east Beijing and might be the only one in the city.
After 72 hours of staff training, Chaoyang District No2 Hospital's 400 staff began seeing people with fever, who queued outdoors in a yard to enter an examination room and an X-ray hall.
The hospital has erected metal walls in the yard to separate people with fever from medical workers, who wear special protective suits. Patients with Sars symptoms, but who have not yet been diagnosed with the virus or been given the all-clear, stay in the hospital for about a week, and are then either released or sent to a Sars treatment centre.
The hospital can hold up to 65 observation patients and each gets a separate room.
About 20 other Beijing hospitals have similar fever clinics, but do not admit Sars patients, as they serve those with a variety of conditions in crowded facilities where Sars could spread easily.
