Cities respond differently to possible SARS outbreak

Cities respond differently to possible SARS outbreak

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian authorities in separate cities here gave different
responses on Tuesday on the possibility of a recurrence of the
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), after a new case was
confirmed in southern China.

In the North Sumatra capital of Medan, there were no visible
security measures being taken at Polonia Airport, despite the
World Health Organization's (WHO) confirmation on the new case of
SARS found in China's Guangzhou province.

No examinations were done on arriving passengers on Tuesday,
and no airport workers were seen with protective masks.

Devices to detect the possibility of a person with SARS, such
as temperature screening, were not seen anywhere at the airport.
However, they were installed at the airport when the SARS
outbreak was at its peak in early 2002.

Asked by reporters about the readiness of the airport to
prevent SARS here, Polonia Airport manager Soebagyo said that he
would immediately cooperate with the Polonia Health Quarantine
department to begin the SARS detection activities.

Unlike Medan, authorities in Yogyakarta and Bali have
apparently taken precautionary measures for SARS.

In Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport, six thermal
scanners had been deployed three weeks ago at various points to
detect any arriving tourists with SARS symptoms, which include a
fever.

"The equipment detects and identifies those incoming
passengers, whose body temperature is 39 degrees Celsius, the
most easily diagnosed symptom," chief of the airport authority
IGM Dhordy said.

According to Dhordy, some 35 international flights and
up to 4,000 foreign passengers arrive every day.

Chief of Bali Health Agency Molin Yudiasa said that the
equipment had been put out in the middle of December after he was
informed on the reemergence of a suspected SARS case in Taiwan.

The scanners were placed at the International Arrival and
International Departure Terminals and also at the airport's two
facilities for VIPs and state guests.

Trained officers from the Bali Health Agency were assigned to
man the scanners around the clock.

The officers, Molin said, had been told to pay special
attention to the incoming passengers from several countries that
in the past had experienced the outbreak of SARS, such as Taiwan,
China, Hongkong and Singapore.

"Thus far, we have not found any foreign visitors, who
displayed the symptoms of the disease," he assured.

Similar to Bali, Yogyakarta has also prepared appropriately.

Head of Yogyakarta's health office Choirul Anwar has called on
all public health clinics and hospitals to run routine
examinations and submit monthly reports. He added that all
Yogyakarta residences who had recently been to other countries
were required to get health tests and undergo 10 days of out-
patient monitoring.

"If, within 10 days, they do not show symptoms of SARS, then
they'll be safe," said Choirul.

The strict precautionary measures are necessary because the
province could be prone to SARS if it erupts again as it is
favorite destination of international travelers as well as
returning overseas workers.

In greater Jakarta, although reports on the SARS case in China
have become a subject of discussion this week, it has been
business-as-usual at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.