Govt to tighten SARS screening at departure terminals
Govt to tighten SARS screening at departure terminals
Sari P. Setiogi
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Authorities are to heighten Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) screenings at international departure points next week,
almost one month after governments of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) pledged to join forces to fight
the disease.
Ministry of Health environmental health and epidemiology head
I Nyoman Kandun said on Monday that thermal scanners would be
placed at a number of departure points as part of efforts to
boost screening for SARS.
"We will soon install 20 thermal scanners in several entry
points in the country. Tomorrow we will start with the Soekarno-
Hatta airport in Jakarta," I Nyoman told The Jakarta Post.
ASEAN leaders met in Bangkok, Thailand in late April to
discuss efforts to curb the killer disease. At the end of the
meeting, they issued a statement pledging joint efforts to
contain the disease, including increasing pre-departure SARS
screenings.
I Nyoman said the government would also start next week
distributing health declaration cards to departing passengers at
both international airports and seaports.
The cards would contain information, including the passenger's
name, nationality, passport number and flight or cruise
information. Body temperatures of each passenger would also be
checked by port health officers.
The distribution of health declaration cards would be
accompanied with temperature screening of passengers before
taking their flights or cruises.
The measures would also be taken by other ASEAN countries and
China, Japan and South Korea.
ASEAN comprises Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and
Indonesia.
The measures were agreed on during a meeting on the prevention
and containment of SARS at Clark Special Economic Zone in the
Philippines on May 15 and May 16. The meeting was attended by
ASEAN members and Japan, China, and South Korea.
A joint resolution issued at the end of the two-day meeting
stated that health declaration cards for departing passengers
should be implemented in member countries by June 15, while for
the temperature screening by Aug. 15.
According to the latest report from the World Health
Organization (WHO), the cumulative number of probable SARS cases
worldwide has reached 7,761 with 623 fatalities. Most cases were
in Asia.
In Indonesia alone, no new probable case have been found so
far. The first case was a British man who flew to Hong Kong after
being discharged from hospital.
Separately, the government of Japan on Monday provided
Indonesia with protective and laboratory equipment to support the
government's effort to curb SARS.
The equipment, worth US$250,000, was given by the Embassy of
Japan's interim charge d'affaires Shigekazu Sato to Minister of
Health Achmad Sujudi in Jakarta.
N-95 masks, basic laboratory equipment, specimen storage and
shipping are included in the equipment provided.