Beijing municipal service departments have stepped up efforts to
contain the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and
to back the city's overall prevention and treatment of the disease.
The Ministry of Construction, which is in charge of all municipal
service sectors in China, said on Wednesday that Beijing's public
transport sectors carried out daily disinfections of vehicles,
including more than 21,000 buses with a daily capacity of 12
million passengers.
Public buses and taxis were required to keep windows open to let
fresh air in and suspected SARS patients found in the long-distance
buses would be taken to observation and examination rooms in bus
stations.
The water supply sector tightened management and monitoring of
waterworks and pipelines to ensure quality water for the 13 million
residents of the Chinese capital.
Staff members of gas companies in the municipality worked overtime
last week to provide adequate liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) because
some small suburban gas stations had cut supplies to the downtown
area due to the disease.
The ministry said the sale of LPG in Beijing had increased about 30
percent in the past five days, but there was no sign of supplies
running low.
Construction sites in and around Beijing crowded with migrant
workers were one of the government's top priorities in the fight
against the epidemic, the ministry said, noting that the municipal
construction department highlighted disinfections and anti-SARS
education among these workers.
(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2003)