The vice governor of the Maritime Territory comes out for opening the Russian-Chinese border

Not a single case of suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has been registered in the Maritime Territory (the Russian Far East). Vice governor of the Territory Boris Geltser, who supervises public health in the area, spoke about it on Friday at the press conference in Vladivostok (the centre of the Maritime Territory).

He believes that the hospitalisation of a young man in Sakhalin, suspected of having this syndrome, should not be connected with the Maritime Territory only because up to the recent time he was a soldier at service in the Maritime town of Ussuriisk.

The young man, who was demobilised from that city, has been hospitalised on suspicion of SARS.

Boris Geltser pointed out that in the past two months a big work had been done to prevent the spread of the SARS virus. At all border and customs check points a reliable sanitary control has been established.

The Vice Governor said that the measures taken would make it possible soon to resume bilateral tourist and business visits at the Maritime section of the Russian-Chinese border which have been suspended on May 8.

Geltser believes that the preventive measures were necessary but they have dealt a serious blow at tourist, business and medium trade companies in the Territory and the neighbour Chinese province of Heilongjiang.