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