A total of 224 people died in "public health
incidents" in the first half of this year in China, a sharp increase of 31
percent on the same period of the previous year, the Ministry of Health (MOH)
reported.
More than 54,000 people were caught up in 1,524 public health incidents in
the first six months of the year. A total of 1,233 occurred in schools,
accounting for 81 percent of the total, the report said.
The incidents were caused by epidemics, food poisoning, environmental
pollution and job-related poisoning, according to the MOH.