SARS in Batam

In Names of RI SARS victims released (The Jakarta Post, May 9), you reported that the latest patient, an 81-year old Indonesian man who had just returned from Singapore, classified as a SARS-observed case, has been detected in a hospital in Batam.

We have made detailed enquiries and found that the person referred to in your report is Hamid bin Daud, a 81-year old man. He is a non-SARS related case and was officially discharged from the hospital on May 8.

Singapore has imposed tough restrictions, over and above the World Health Organization's guidelines to contain the spread of SARS to the community. These measures have been found to be effective, as we have had no new infections for the last twelve days. We have also taken all means, including deploying thermal imaging scanners to check the temperatures of all incoming and departing visitors to Singapore to minimize the possibility of any spread of infection into or beyond Singapore.

WILLIAM TAN, First Secretary, Singapore Embassy, Jakarta