BEIJING, April 27: More than 600 people have been isolated in Beijing as the city moves to prevent a Sars outbreak from spreading ahead of the busy Labour Day holidays, state media and medical workers said on Tuesday.

"The number of people who have been isolated has risen to more than 600 because of the SARS epidemic," Wu Jiang, director of the infectious disease control department of Beijing Centre of Disease Control told the Beijing News.

The CDC confirmed the figure, adding that 24 of those under observation were staff from the national centre of disease control. At least 133 people are also in isolation in Anhui province, newspapers said. "The people are either isolated in the same place or at home," said Mr Wu, who expressed confidence that the Chinese capital would not be crippled by Sars, as it was last year. -AFP