Officials confirm SARS in death of woman in China

BEIJING (AP) -- Officials confirmed today that a 53-year-old woman who died last week had SARS as suspected, the Health Ministry said. It was the world's first confirmed SARS death this year.
The announcement came as Chinese began their weeklong May Day holiday under the pall of SARS.
Travelers were being checked for fevers -- a main SARS symptom -- before being allowed to board trains and planes.
Millions on the move
More than 90 million Chinese were expected to travel during the break, and the government is eager to keep a new SARS outbreak from spreading.
The dead woman was the mother of a Beijing laboratory employee who contracted the virus on the job. The woman from the eastern province of Anhui has been identified only by the surname Wei.
Also today, the Health Ministry said no new SARS cases were reported in the 24 hours ending this morning.
Today's announcement raised China's number of confirmed cases to five, with four of those patients hospitalized. Another four patients who have suspected cases also are hospitalized.
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