State media reported that Health Minister Zhang Wenkang and Beijing mayor Meng Xuenong were removed from senior positions in the Communist Party, a formal step which will almost certainly see them fired from their government posts. In a statement Sunday the Chinese health ministry said there were 346 confirmed cases and 402 suspected cases in Beijing alone, and that 18 people had died from SARS in the capital. The number of cases in Beijing is nine times higher than the previous offical figure of 44 cases and four deaths. The nationwide death toll from SARS has been raised to 79 with 1,814 confirmed cases of the illness.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!