China reports 160 Sars cases

China reported scores more Sars cases yesterday, suggesting the illness is far from under control in the world's most populous nation.

And in a sign that the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is more robust than previously thought, the World Health Organisation said the organism could survive outside the human body longer than previously thought.

China's Health Ministry said nine more people had died from Sars, taking the nation's total to 206.

It said there had been 160 new infections, similar to totals in the past several days. China has now recorded 4,280 cases, the bulk of the world's total. While China's government battled to stop Sars spreading out of control in its vast rural heartland, there were signs the virus was being contained elsewhere in Asia.

Singapore, which has the world's third-highest number of Sars deaths, has gone 48 hours without a new case. Yesterday it reopened a major food market at the heart of a recent outbreak.

Hospitals, the scene of most Sars infections in Singapore, also appear to have brought the virus under control with no infections occurring in any hospital in 16 days.

The government warned against complacency. "Our biggest danger now is... to relax the efforts which we have put in," Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan said on Sunday.

Hong Kong reported three more deaths, for a total of 187, and eight new infections, the same figures as Sunday and the lowest since mid-March, reinforcing hopes that a virus that has wreaked havoc on the city's economy is finally on the wane.

The news was a relief for battered investors, who drove the Hong Kong and Singapore stock markets higher in cautious trade.

In a report that could shed light on the frightening spread of Sars, the WHO said on its website on Sunday the virus could live up to four days in the waste from patients with diarrhoea.