The Macao Special Administrative Region government on Wednesday set
up a daily communication channel on the prevention of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) with the neighboring Zhuhai City, where
one case of SARS has been confirmed.
Koi Kuok Ieng, director of the Health Service of the Macao
government, said that at a meeting with officials from Zhuhai's
health, immigration and the border quarantine bureaus Wednesday,
the two sides have agreed to notify each other on the SARS
situation on a daily basis as well as to step up SARS
prevention.
Prior to this, Macao has only established the daily SARS
communication channel with Beijing.
At
Wednesday's meeting, the Macao authority brought up a proposal to
seek Zhuhai's help in the cremation of SARS victims, in case of a
fatality succumbed to SARS in Macao, which doesn't have a
crematorium.
The Zhuhai side has agreed to seriously attend to a solution of the
matter.
In
a tightened quarantine check effort, fixed infrared thermometers
were put into service round-the-clock at Macao's three main
checkpoints on Wednesday, which screen visitors' body temperature
upon their entry.
Beginning on May 1, visitors to Macao and Macao residents will be
obliged to submit health declaration forms along with their
passports at all of Macao's entry ports.
The second PCR test result given by the Hong Kong Health Department
to a possible SARS patient in Macao, a 52-year-old man, has come
out negative of SARS. A Dutch student, who had formerly been
suspected of contracting SARS, has been diagnosed as having an
ordinary type of pneumonia. He left hospital Tuesday.
On
Wednesday, 15 people, who were found to have a high fever, were
sent to the special emergency room in the Macao Government Hospital
for medical examination. Four of them needed further blood checks
for possible SARS symptoms.
(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2003)