SARS precautions not seen at airport

SARS precautions not seen at airport

JAKARTA: Special precautions against Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS), a highly contagious pneumonia-like disease that
has killed 54 people worldwide, were not evident at Soekarno-
Hatta International Airport on Sunday.

When The Jakarta Post inspected the airport's overseas
arrivals terminal on Sunday, the situation looked normal. There
were no signs of extra alertness to anticipate the possible
spread of the killer disease.

Airport police chief Adj. Comr. Sri Suari told the Post that
the number of travelers arriving and leaving through the airport
had dropped by 20 percent over the past week. But this was
possibly due to the United States' invasion of Iraq rather than
the fear of SARS.

Regarding the possible spread of SARS by travelers visiting
the country, the Indonesian immigration office admitted on Sunday
that immigration officers had not taken any special precautions.
"We are just abiding by a recent instruction from the ministry of
health," he said.

"Immigration cannot examine the health of travelers and we
cannot detect indications of whether travelers arriving at the
airport have contracted SARS or not," immigration spokesman Ade
E. Dahlan said on Sunday.

"Similarly, we would call on citizens who really have to go
abroad to please follow the health minister's advice and avoid
visiting crowded public places like shopping malls or cinemas.

He said that if officers were suspicious that an arriving
traveler was suffering from SARS, immigration would quickly
contact the government of the country where the traveler came
from, and would possibly refuse him entry.--JP