As the numbers rise from the swine flu outbreak, China authorities swear they will punish officials who falsify or delay reports on the deadly disease that has now infected 198 people and killed 36.
Meanwhile Hong Kong's government has adopted tough measures to protect against the disease.
According to state television, seventeen new infections of swine flu and two new deaths have been reported in China's southwestern province of Sichuan.
The disease has now spread to 108 villages and townships, six more since Sunday.
Officials in Beijing, which came under fire for covering up the Severe Acure Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak two years ago, insists the disease is under control.
The state media quotes a health official in Ziyang, where the outbreak was first reported in June, as saying the rates of new infections and deaths had fallen.
However as Chinese reporters are no longer allowed to visit affected areas, media coverage of the outbreak has been restricted, and newspapers have been told to publish Xinhua reports.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that China has done a good job of supplying information on the epidemic and taken extensive steps to block further infections.
The WHO has called for further laboratory testing because of the disease's unusual virulence.They say although many of the clinical features described in the outbreak are consistent with swine flu, the apparent proportion of patients showing severe illness and the level or mortality is high.
They add that any outbreak that shows unusual or previously unreported features requires a thorough clinical, laboratory investigation to obtain a complete picture.
A Sichuan government statement has said in cases of negligence, attempted cover-ups, failure to report, or delaying reports that lead to serious consequences and great losses, the person in charge will be held accountable.
Sichuan's livestock and food product bureau in Sichuan has also set a similar policy for veterinarians, demanding they respond rapidly to suspected infections and immediately report any confirmed new cases or else be held responsible for the consequences.
Last week two officials in Ziyang were sacked for failing to inform local farmers of the dangers of swine flu, and a health inspector was also dismissed for failing to conduct inspections himself, sitting in his car while farmers checked their pigs.