Hongkong Police on beat are wearing big mask.

Nine people died of atypical pneumonia in Guangdong Province last month, Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Health revealed Wednesday.There were 18 fewer deaths from the mystery illness last month, compared to February's toll of 27 deaths, a bureau official, who declined to be named, said.

A total of 361 people were diagnosed with atypical pneumonia in the southern Chinese province between March 1 and 31, down 47.5 per cent on February's total.

Some 145 cases of atypical pneumonia were detected from March 1 to 10, 128 were discovered from March 11 and 20, while the remaining 88 cases were diagnosed in the last 11 days of last month.

Most of March's cases were reported in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, the official said.

The gradual fall in the number of new infections indicated that the fatal disease was basically under control in Guangdong Province, the official said.

No doctors, nurses or medical staff were diagnosed with atypical pneumonia in March, the official said.

And the peak period of infection, in mid-February, was believed to have passed.

The official urged local residents and tourists in the province not to panic.

Meanwhile, a total of 507 atypical pneumonia patients recovered and were discharged from hospital in March -- 133 more than in February, the official said.

By the end of March, Guangdong had detected a total of 1,153 atypical pneumonia patients since its first case was reported in Foshan on November 16.

So far, 40 people have died of the disease in the province.

But about 80 per cent of Guangdong's atypical pneumonia patients have now recovered and been discharged from hospitals thanks to effective medical treatment, the official said.

The atypical pneumonia outbreak struck seven cities -- Guangzhou, Heyuan, Shenzhen, Foshan, Zhongshan, Zhaoqing and Jiangmen -- in the Pearl River Delta.

Editor: Weiwei