Mainland flu total rises to 196

By Li Xinran  |   2009-6-15  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE Chinese mainland reported 31 new cases of swine flu yesterday, including one in Shanghai. The mainland total is now 196.

Sichuan Province in southwest China reported 10 cases, according to the Ministry of Health. Eight of them were tourists from the United States, the ministry said.

Fujian, Beijing and Guangdong had four new cases each while Hubei Province reported three and two were confirmed in Shanghai's neighboring Zhejiang Province.

On the same day, Shanghai and Hunan, Shandong, and Yunnan provinces each discovered a new case, according to the ministry.

The Shanghai case is the city's 18th: a 19-year-old man who was studying in Australia, city health authorities said yesterday.

The patient from Shaaxi Province was detected with a fever of 37.4 degrees Celsius at the airport when he arrived in Shanghai on Friday night.

He was sent to a hospital for quarantine and diagnosed as having the H1N1 virus yesterday.

City health authorities were tracing 64 close contacts who were also on China Eastern Airlines' MU566 flight.