Govt warns of increasing SARS cases
Govt warns of increasing SARS cases
Moch. N. Kurniawan and Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hospitals designated to treat suspected Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome cases have been told to prepare more isolation rooms as
the number of suspected SARS cases rose to 16 on Tuesday, up from
12 on Monday.
Meanwhile, the government sent five senior doctors to
Singapore on Tuesday to study how the city-state handles SARS
cases.
Singapore has been praised by the World Health Organization
(WHO) for doing more than other countries to minimize the spread
of SARS.
Director General for Communicable Disease Eradication and
Environmental Health Umar Fahmi Achmadi told The Jakarta Post on
Tuesday that SARS appeared to be on the increase in Indonesia
despite the declining trend worldwide.
The government has appointed 17 state hospitals across the
country to treat suspected SARS patients. The hospitals include
Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital and Persahabatan
Hospital in Jakarta; Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra;
Batam Otorita Hospital in Batam, Riau; Muwardi Hospital in
Surakarta, Central Java; Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya, East Java;
Sudarso Hospital in Pontianak, West Kalimantan; Tarakan Hospital
in Tarakan, East Kalimantan; Wahidin Sudiro Husodo Hospital in
Makassar, South Sulawesi; Malalayang Hospital in Manado, North
Sulawesi, and Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, Bali.
According to Umar, the total number of suspected SARS cases
rose to 16 on Tuesday, up from 12 on Monday, but only five are
still being treated at Sulianti Saroso hospital.
Sardikin Giriputro, head of the SARS team at Sulianti Saroso
hospital, agreed with Umar, saying suspected SARS cases would
continue to increase.
He also confirmed that five suspected SARS patients were still
being treated at the hospital and that an additional ambulance
had been given to the hospital by the Ministry of Health. Another
ambulance was given to Soekarno-Hatta Airport health clinic.
Arie Bratasena, a senior official at Sulianti Saroso, said
that although patients had been allowed to return home, they had
been advised to continue wearing masks, stay home for 14 days,
measure body temperature every eight hours and report their
health condition periodically to relevant hospitals.
Umar said that Sulianti Saroso hospital would double its
isolation rooms to 14, while Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta and
Batam Otorita Hospital intended to increase their isolation rooms
to anticipate an increase in suspected SARS patients.
Surgical masks have been distributed to all airport officials,
and health alert cards are disseminated to passengers in
airplanes -- not inside the airport -- according to Sumaryati
Aryoso, head of research and development at the Ministry of
Health.
She said a special health clinic for returning migrant workers
had been established at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to
anticipate suspected SARS cases among migrant workers returning
from Hong Kong and Singapore.
She also said a government team had been sent to Batam to
improve monitoring at seaports there.
Meanwhile, Antara reported that the Manokwari Health Office,
Papua, would establish a special emergency unit for SARS.
The news agency also reported that Cirebon Seaport Health
Clinic, West Java, had tightened measures to protect the city
against a SARS outbreak. The city is visited by ships from
territories where the virus has spread such as Vietnam,
Singapore, Hong Kong and China.
Tjilik Riwut Airport in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, is
also screening incoming passengers to prevent the entry of SARS
in the city.
I-BOX
Accumulative suspected SARS cases: 16
In Sulianti Saroso Hospital: 5
Discharged from hospital: 11