Most pharmacies have run out of masks
Most pharmacies have run out of masks
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Most pharmacies in Jakarta have no stocks of the masks
recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for protecting
people from contracting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
A 24-hour pharmacy on Jl. Salemba Raya, Central Jakarta, only
had two kinds of masks, one for personal healthcare use and
another that is usually bought by people going on the haj
pilgrimage to protect them from air pollution.
Still, a storekeeper told The Jakarta Post that their sales of
masks had increased by 200 percent recently, with an average of
500 masks being sold per day. A pack of eight is worth between Rp
3,500 (4 U.S. cents) and Rp 8,500.
A. Chalik Masulili, head of the city health agency, said on
Thursday that the type of mask that was needed to protect a
person against the highly contagious SARS virus was an N-95, type
8210.
"But at the moment, the required masks are difficult to find
in Jakarta. Most have been supplied by WHO and in very limited
numbers. Priority is being given to officials at entry points and
healthcare workers in hospitals," he said.
The required masks must be able to filter out particles as
small as one micron, have good respiratory functions and only
allow one-way inhalation.
However, Chalik said that an ordinary mask could help as the
air inhaled would still be filtered to a certain degree.
He added that the government had no plan to import the N-95
masks.
As a further precaution against the spread of the virus, the
city health agency designated two more hospitals as SARS centers:
the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) in Central Jakarta
and the Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta.
These hospitals will join the two others that were earlier
designated as SARS centers: the Sulianti Saroso Hospital for
Infectious Diseases in Sunter, North Jakarta, and the
Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta.
According to Chalik, four isolation rooms and one intensive
care unit (ICU) are available in the RSCM and Persahabatan
hospitals, while 14 isolation rooms are available in the Sulianti
Saroso Hospital. At the present time, the facilities in the
Fatmawati Hospital are not yet operational.
Patients who are suspected of suffering from SARS should be
treated in an isolation room with a separate bathroom and
ventilation. They should also wear a mask at the least until
declared SARS-free.
A 24-hour hotline to the city health agency is available at
(021) 3483-5118. The latest information on the disease in the
city can be obtained at this number.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sardikin Giriputro of the Sulianti Saroso
Hospital admitted that some constraints were still being felt in
most hospitals in Jakarta because of the limited facilities
available and inadequate protection for health workers, which
made them reluctant to become involved.
Three persons are at present suspected of having SARS in
Jakarta. A mother and her daughter who just arrived back from a
holiday in Singapore are now receiving treatment in the Sulianti
Saroso Hospital, as is a former migrant worker from Taiwan who
arrived here on Tuesday afternoon. The migrant worker was later
sent to the Sulianti Saroso Hospital, but she refused to be
treated and went home to her hometown in Subang, West Java.
On Monday, a woman with SARS-like symptoms died in the Islamic
Hospital in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta.
"But they have not yet tested positive for SARS. We are still
waiting for the blood sample test results from Atlanta in the
U.S.," said Chalik. "So thus far we can state that we have had no
SARS cases in Indonesia."
Chalik also warned people to stay calm and not panic.