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Wednesday, March 26, 2003
RP to ban travel to SARS-hit countries
MANILA -- President Arroyo's government is thinking of imposing a ban on travel to countries hit by the killer respiratory disease SARS.
"We are considering a travel ban on countries where there is SARS so that it would not spread," Arroyo said Tuesday over national television.
A senator made a similar call for the foreign affairs department to issue advisories against travel to countries where there are reported cases of the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) head office in Geneva said that as of Monday, there were 456 cases of the illness, known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), from 13 countries and the Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong.
The outbreak of the disease in Asia has prompted authorities to intensify quarantine procedures in the country's airports and seaports.
Like other airports and seaports in the country, the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) in Cebu is already checking all arriving international passengers for any sign of the disease.
In the past two weeks, the disease has killed 17 -- including 10 in Hong Kong, where around 130,000 domestic helpers are from the Philippines.
Singapore has invoked a law to keep 740 people under home quarantine as the number of cases in the city-state rose to 65 Tuesday with 12 victims in serious condition.
Arroyo said the Philippine department of health has contingency measures in place. "Let us be calm and let us avoid panic and irrational fear," she said.
At the Senate, Senator Manuel Villar urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to issue advisories against travel to countries where there are reported cases of SARS.
Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, said the foreign affairs office should already make the necessary precautions to prevent any Filipino from being taken ill by the mysterious illness overseas.
The WHO last week removed the Philippines from a list of nations where SARS was detected after a Filipino businessman who traveled to Hong Kong and was suspected of having the disease was cleared by health authorities.
On Monday, a Filipino domestic helper in Hong Kong was reported to have died due to the sickness.
Apart from Hong Kong, cases of SARS were also reported in the countries of Vietnam, China, and Singapore, where many overseas Filipinos workers are currently based.
In Hong Kong alone, there are at least 150,000 domestic helpers already deployed in the city-state.
"Filipinos should be warned against traveling to these countries," Villar said, adding that Filipino travelers should plan their Lenten vacation away from areas where there are cases of SARS.
Apart from the imposition of the travel ban, Villar urged the government to conduct a massive information campaign on the nature of the mysterious disease, its symptoms, and how to prevent its spread.
He also urged the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation to coordinate with the Department of Health (DOH) in tightening and heightening screening measures in the country's major gateways, like the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Villar said that if the World Health Organization already issued an alert on the illness, as it may take time the group some time to develop a cure or antidote against SARS, the government should also take the necessary precautions against it.
In Cebu, the Department of Health 7 has reiterated that no case has yet been reported in the province or in any other part of the country.
To be sure, though, Customs Collector Leovigildo Dayoja, a member of the MCIAA Airport Security Council, said the Bureau of Quarantine and International Health Surveillance (BQIHS) will provide all airline companies with checklist forms, which the cabin crew will distribute during the flight.
Upon arrival, the passenger will submit the form to BQIHS employees, who will either clear them or subject them to medical examination and evaluation.
Those cleared can proceed to the Bureau of Immigration counter. Otherwise, the passenger will have to go to the Quarantine Medical Office for physical evaluation.
The BQIHS will keep the upper portion of the form, while the passenger hangs on to the rest, as this will be part of the immigration requirement.
Cabin crew, Dayoja said, should be alert to detect signs and symptoms of the disease among passengers, and report anyone suspected of carrying the disease to the BQIHS upon arrival.
MCIAA General Manager Angelo Verdan is providing additional area where the BQIHS can conduct examination, evaluation and set up a quarantine area.
Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit 7 Chief Junjie Zuasula said Sars is a viral infection that attacks the individual's immune system. It is hard to detect since its symptoms, which include flu, cough, shortness of breath and fever, are also common in other diseases.
The virus that causes it belongs to the same family that causes measles and mumps. However, their signs and symptoms may vary.
Incidents of the highly contagious disease were first recorded in Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore earlier this month. The disease later cropped up in Malaysia, China and Taiwan.
However, this should not be cause for alarm here in the Philippines since no case has been reported yet in the country, said Zuasula.
He said the public should continue to look out for symptoms of SARS, though it could only be a suspected case if the individual has recently traveled to one of the affected countries.
"The history of travel is the only factor that can make it a suspected case of SARS because flu is common to all other viral infection. If there is no history of travel to the affected Asian countries, then most likely it's not SARS," he told Sun.Star. Sunnex Luzon/Sun.Star Cebu
(March 26, 2003 issue)
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