Beijing: China on May 4 said that seven more people died from the killer epidemic Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and another 163 were infected, taking the death toll to 197 and the number of cases to 4,125.

China's Health Ministry said four out of the seven new deaths were in the Chinese capital Beijing, currently the hardest hit place in the world, which accounted for 69 of the latest 163 cases.

The Ministry said the latest SARS figures took the Beijing death toll to 100, more than any other area of the country, including the southern province of Guangdong where SARS first appeared in November 2002.

A total of 1,416 SARS patients have been discharged from hospitals upon recovery, it said.

PTI