The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday lifted its warning over severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus against non-essential travel to four Chinese regions, said WHO spokesman Iain Simpson.

"Effective today the World Health Organization is removing its recommendation that people should postpone all but essential travel to Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Tianjin regions in China," a WHO statement said.

The recommendations to consider postponing non-essential travel to the four regions were issued on April 23 and May 8, respectively.

"WHO is changing this recommendation as the situation in these areas has now improved significantly," the statement said.

Information about the decline of outbreaks in the four regions has been carefully reviewed by WHO and "suggests that SARS is no longer a potential threat to international travelers to these regions."

(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2003)