The Ministry of Health (MOH) Thursday reported no new severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases, but one death from the disease on the Chinese mainland for the 24 hours from 10:00 a.m. on June 11 to 10:00 a.m. on June 12.

The death was reported in Beijing.

According to the ministry, 67 SARS patients were discharged from hospitals upon recovery during the period, including 55 in Beijing, six in Shanxi, two in Tianjin and Hebei, respectively andone each in Inner Mongolia and Shanghai.

During the 24-hour period, the Chinese mainland reported only one new suspected SARS case from Guangdong Province.

The country ruled out 108 suspected SARS cases on the mainland during the period: 102 in Beijing, two in Guangdong, and one each in Tianjin, Shanxi, Anhui and Henan.

The cumulative number of suspected SARS cases on the Chinese mainland stood at 220 as of 10:00 a.m. June 12, according to the MOH.

As of 10:00 a.m. June 12, there were 521 SARS patients hospitalized on the Chinese mainland, MOH figures show.

According to the criteria of the World Health Organization, thenumber of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities with recent local SARS transmission on the Chinese mainland stood at six as of 10:00 a.m. June 12.

Of them, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia have had no new SARS cases for over 15 consecutive days; Hebei has reported no new cases for over 10 consecutive days; Liaoning has had no new cases for nine consecutive days and Sichuan has had no new cases for six days.

Editor: Liao Ming