SARS threat eliminated in Blagoveshchensk

The checkpoint Blagoveshchensk-Heihe resumed its work in the Amur region bordering on China (the middle reaches of the Amur river. It is situated between the regional centres of the two countries and was closed on May 8 because of the SARS spreading threat.

The delegation of the Amur region met with representatives of the government of the Chinese town of Heihe to reach an agreement on resuming the work of the checkpoint. The sides decided that no more than 200 tourists will cross the border daily who will undergo thorough sanitary control at the Chinese and Russian territories.

The delegations agreed that only workers from the Chinese provinces where SARS cases were not registered will be allowed to enter the territory of the Amur region. The permission will also spread to the Chinese students and teachers who will go to the Amur region to study or teach in educational establishments.

Russian students and teachers will be allowed to go to China to those provinces where SARS cases were not registered.

The press service of the Amur region's administration reported that members of the Amur delegation studied the edidemiological situation in the Heihe district, measures of sanitary control at the Heihe checkpoint, the railway station, and in the temporary isolation ward.

The Chinese authorities are taking serious measures to prevent the SARS spreading in the district, the press service stated.