China reported nine new SARS deaths and almost 150 new cases Wednesday, sending the death toll there to over 100 as throngs of desperate people flooded Beijing's rail stations, trying to flee the capital.

In all, 106 people have died in China, including 35 fatalities in Beijing, where the mayor has been replaced for mishandling the outbreak.

Schools in Beijing have been ordered closed in an effort to stem the soaring number of infections and deaths in the Chinese capital.

All primary and secondary schools in the city will be closed for two weeks from Thursday, a move that will affect an estimated 1.7 million children, officials said.

Travel agencies have also reportedly been ordered to stop booking trips and soldiers were guarding Beijing's perimeter, checking people for signs of the illness.

With the announcement of another 147 cases on Wednesday -- 34 in Beijing -- the number of Chinese SARS cases stood at 2,305, a health ministry spokesman told a news conference.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned Wednesday against travel to Beijing and China's Shanxi province -- as well as Toronto -- in an effort to halt the global spread of the virus.

"We are going to recommend people who have unnecessary travel to Shanxi, Beijing and to Toronto postpone travel if possible," David Heymann, WHO director of communicable diseases, told reporters by telephone from Bangkok.

The recommendation to put off non-essential travel to the areas will be in effect for at least three weeks, he said.

WHO investigators have said Beijing's failure to trace people exposed to those infected could let the disease spread. Such criticism is believed to have led to the dismissal of Beijing's mayor.

China has more than half of the world's 4,500 known SARS cases and some panic is reportedly beginning to surface as the government allows state media to fully report on the flu-like illness.

Beijing Railway Station was clogged with hundreds of travellers wearing white cotton masks Wednesday, hoping to catch trains departing the crowded city.

"I'm going home because I'm scared of getting sick," migrant worker Deng Pao told Reuters. "I've been in Beijing for two months and had a good job, but it's not worth it."

Masked disinfection squads and rubber gloves armed with spray guns have been spraying airports and planes, buses and terminals, trains and stations across the nation.

SARS, whose symptoms include high fever, a dry cough and difficulty in breathing, has killed more than 250 people around the world and has a mortality rate estimated at about six per cent. There is no known cure.

The illness is thought to have originated in southern China's Guangdong province, spread to nearby Hong Kong and then been transmitted by travellers to 25 countries, including Canada.

With a report from the Associated Press