Temperature checks for air travellers
Saturday, April 12, 2003
scmp.com
PATSY MOY and STAFF REPORTERS
All passengers leaving Hong Kong will have their temperature taken at Chek Lap Kok airport before they are allowed to board a plane, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa announced yesterday in an attempt to reassure people overseas about the spread of atypical pneumonia.
Mr Tung made the announcement as the number of cases in Hong Kong broke the 1,000 barrier and two more deaths were reported. There have been more than 3,000 cases and at least 113 deaths worldwide.
The measures directed at airport passengers came after Malaysia imposed a travel ban on tourists from Hong Kong. An official said later the move would come into effect "as soon as the details have been worked out" but did not specify when this would be.
Mr Tung expressed concern about countries taking unfavourable action against Hong Kong and said: "We wish to tell our overseas friends loud and clear that Hong Kong will do its best to prevent the spread. They should not worry about people from Hong Kong spreading the disease.''
His comments came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that its warning to travellers not to visit Hong Kong will remain in place for at least 30 days. It said the advisory would be reviewed if the outbreak was sufficiently controlled.
"We would like to see a radical drop of the number of new cases over three [10-day] incubation periods, it is our benchmark,'' WHO spokesman Peter Cordingley said.
The chief executive also announced that those who have close contact with Sars patients and are ordered to stay in home isolation will be barred from leaving Hong Kong from Monday.
Even tourists who came down with the virus while visiting Hong Kong would fall within the scope of the travel ban, Deputy Director of Health Lam Ping-yan said.
Dr Lam said passengers who had a high fever - one of the major symptoms of Sars - would be given further health checks, including X-rays, to determine whether they were allowed to board planes. "Arrangements will be made for passengers who are found to have a fever to see doctors who will check whether they have other symptoms such as a cough or breathlessness. The passengers may have to receive X-rays to determine whether they have the disease," Dr Lam explained.
But he refused to say whether land and sea travellers, such as those crossing the border to the mainland, would also be required to have their temperature taken.
Lo Wing-lok, legislator representing the medical sector, said the government should be consistent in its measures. "If passengers leaving Hong Kong have their temperature taken, how about visitors coming to Hong Kong? There should be random tests by medical staff at the airport to watch out for symptoms shown by visitors,'' he said.
A further 61 people were added to the patients' list yesterday, taking the toll to 1,059. The new patients included 11 healthcare workers and 11 Amoy Gardens residents.
A government spokesman said the 61 extra cases should be read together with Thursday's figure of 28 because of a change over from a manual reporting system to an on-line system.
Two more deaths were reported yesterday - a man, 81, with chronic disease and a man, 79 - taking the death toll to 32. The Hospital Authority also announced one of its staff members working in its Ho Man Tin headquarters died of the disease in Princess Margaret Hospital on Wednesday. In Beijing yesterday, Guangdong respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan conceded that authorities had not contained Sars on the mainland as Health Minister Zhang Wenkang had led the public to believe last week.
"I can't say for the whole nation, but I just learned that in Guangdong there have been seven new cases diagnosed yesterday [Thursday]," said Dr Zhong, who led Guangdong's efforts to treat Sars.
"From this point of view, this disease hasn't been controlled effectively.
"We aren't even completely sure what is the cause of the disease. How can we say it is under control? "Latest figures released by the Ministry of Health yesterday showed that by Thursday there were 1,309 cases, with a death toll of 58. There were 19 new cases, all recorded in Guangdong.
Last week, Mr Zhang insisted that Sars had been put under "effective control" in China, saying more patients had been discharged from hospitals than admitted.
"With WHO co-operation and the co-operation of scientists from Hong Kong and Taiwan, we can control this disease," said Dr Zhong, who was in charge of investigating the first Sars outbreak in Guangdong's Foshan city in November.
"We must control this quickly. If not, this disease would get into a large population and it would mutate and as a result we could end up with a very serious problem on our hands."
Meanwhile, WHO Sars experts who inspected Guangdong province's health-care system earlier this week have received central government permission to launch the same inquiry in Beijing and Shanghai.
Citizens in both cities are concerned the disease has spread further than officially reported.
Shanghai officials yesterday insisted the city is safe.
In another move to tackle the outbreak, China yesterday ordered travel agencies to halt tour groups to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. |
