22 out of 32 checkpoints on Russia's borders with China and Mongolia to be closed down

On the midnight of June 4, border guards will close down 22 of 32 checkpoints functioning on the Russian-Chinese and Russian-Mongolian borders, Russia's Chief Sanitary Inspector Gennady Onishchenko said in a RIA Novosti interview.

"There is work going on on the border every day," stressed Onishchenko, who reported that more than 500 Russian children going to Chinese schools had returned to Russia.

The priority task, according to his words, is to alert the medical services functioning in every member of the Russian Federation.

Speaking about the situation in the world, the chief sanitary inspector said a second wave of SARS had hit Toronto, Canada. But then, the World Health Organization did not count Canada as a country with a bad health situation, he added.

As of May 29, only 3 new cases of SARS were registered on the Chinese territory, he reported.