Family of Medan SARS patient still in quarantine

Apriadi Gunawan and Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Medan/Jakarta

Eight family members of a probable SARS case in Medan, North Sumatra, have all been either confined to hospital or placed in quarantine in their homes to prevent the killer disease from spreading.

North Sumatra Health Office chief Herman Sadeck said on Thursday that three family members who had brought the probable SARS case to hospital were now in quarantine in the Adam Malik Hospital, while five others were not allowed to leave their homes.

The quarantine period started Thursday and would continue for the next 10 days. The SARS virus's incubation period is between two and 14 days.

Herman said those placed under quarantine at home could order food and whatever else they needed from health officers. "Also, at the moment, our health officers are monitoring their condition around the clock."

The condition of the probable SARS patient is reportedly improving.

Aside from the eight people, seven health workers at the Gleneagles Hospital in Medan, where the probable SARS patient was first brought, have been asked to stay home and will not be allowed to work for 10 days.

The hospital's public relations officer, Hartono Taslim, said the seven all had direct contact with the patient.

As another preventive measure, the hospital has also disinfected all its medical equipment in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) and health ministry recommended procedures

The probable SARS patient arrived at Polinia Airport on 10 April and started getting sick on April 17. He was brought to the Gleneagles Hospital on April 21.

Upon finding that he had SARS-like symptoms, including a high fever, muscle pains and a dry cough, the hospital referred him to the designated-SARS hospital, the Adam Malik Hospital.

Herman said that the hotel had already been disinfected.

Meanwhile in Jakarta, Syafii Ahmad, the SARS spokesperson at the health ministry, said that the ministry was sending a three- member investigative team to Medan. The three would assist Medan health officials, and take a blood sample from the patient.

He also told reporters that a new suspected SARS case in the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in North Jakarta was reported on Thursday.

"He is a 45-year-old Chinese citizen, a businessman who arrived from Guangdong, China," said Syafii. "On his third day here in Jakarta, he got sick and reported to the Sulianti Saroso Hospital."

He added that although the case had not yet been designated "a probable", a SARS investigative team had been tracing his flight and movements during his stay in the city.

The SARS global report issued by WHO on April 23 showed that 4,288 people had been infected and 251 of them had died.

Regionally, southeast Asian countries plus South Korea, Japan and China will hold an inter-ministerial meeting on April 25 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to discuss joint measures to tackle the deadly disease. On April 29, those countries will hold a heads-of-state meeting on the same topic.

Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said on Thursday that besides discussing possible joint measures, especially at ports of entry, he would raise the issue of Indonesian migrant workers in SARS- affected areas.