China Confirms 2 More SARS Cases

Two suspected SARS patients in southern China have been confirmed to have the disease, the government said Saturday, bringing the total to three.

The two confirmations – identified as suspected cases on Jan. 8 and Jan. 13 – were a 20-year-old restaurant waitress and a 35-year-old businessman, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a brief dispatch, citing the Health Ministry.

The 20-year-old woman was discharged from the hospital on Saturday and all the people who had contact with her have been removed from medical observation without showing any symptoms, Xinhua said. The businessman was in stable condition, it said.

No other details were provided.

The season’s first confirmed case, a 32-year-old television producer, was released from hospital last week.