There was no new case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) for the past 24 hours in China and two SARS patients in Beijing were discharged from hospital, the Health Ministry said in Beijing Tuesday.

The ministry said the two discharged patients were Beijing's first SARS patient Li's parents. Li, the 20-year-old nurse, was discharged from hospital upon recovery on May 4.

Currently, there are four SARS patients hospitalized in Beijing. A patient named Zhang was in serious condition but the other three are recovering, according to the ministry.

The ministry said so far none of the 747 close contacts have shown abnormal symptoms, and except the 28 staff members from the national Institute of Virology still in isolation, the rest have been removed from medical observation.

Two more SARS patients discharged from hospital in Beijing

The parents of Beijing's first SARS patient Li have recovered from the disease and were discharged from Ditan Hospital of Beijing Tuesday.

The father Li and mother Teng contracted SARS when taking care of their 20-year-old daughter, who is a nurse in Beijing's Jiangong Hospital. They were admitted into Ditan Hospital on April22.

Mao Yu, president of Ditan Hospital, said that both Li and Teng had fully recovered and met all the requirements set by the state for discharging SARS patients.

Two medical workers from Fengning County, their hometown in north China's Hebei Province, welcomed Li and Teng back home, where they will be under medical observation for another 10 days.

Their daughter was discharged from hospital on May 4.

Mao said four more SARS patients were still being treated in Ditan Hospital, three of whom were recovering and another one surnamed Zhang who was not in a stable condition after being diagnosed with some other diseases.

The hospital was adjusting the treatment measures for Zhang, Mao said.

Source: Xinhua