Beijing: With the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic situation in the Chinese capital remaining "severe", middle and elementary schools in Beijing, the world's worst-hit city by the killer virus, will remain closed for two more weeks, the municipal government announced on May 4.

All middle and elementary schools will remain closed for two more weeks after the first two-week holiday ends on May 7, the Education Department said.

The extension of the closure is aimed to prevent the spread of SARS among Beijing's 1.37 million students, it said.

To make up for the lost time, authorities plan to hold correspondence classes for the students, mainly via TV broadcasts and the Internet.

Beijing had 1,741 confirmed cases of SARS and 1,493 cases of suspected SARS till May 3. The city also reported five deaths during the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 96, the highest in the country.

The number of people under SARS quarantine in Beijing also increased on May 3 by 1,360, the city's epidemic prevention joint working group said.

As of 10:00 hours (07:30 hours IST) on May 3, the number of quarantined people stood at 15,048, an increase of 1,360 on the previous day.

A total of 608 people were released from isolation for epidemiological observation, bringing the number of people released from quarantine to 4,219.

The number of SARS cases on the Chinese mainland rose to 3,971 and 190 deaths as of 10:00 hours, May 3, the Chinese Ministry of Health said.

PTI