Muntinlupa passes quarantine measure

The Muntinlupa Council has passed an ordinance requiring the quarantine of residents of the city who are suspected to have the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus.

According to a press statement, the law was created to prevent the spread of the virus in the Southern Metro Manila.

The mysterious yet virulent virus has killed more than 550 people worldwide and infected 7,400 mostly in Asia.

The ordinance requires those suspected to have SARS to undergo testing and be quarantined at the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang, and at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.

Family members and other people with whom the suspected SARS carrier had contact shall be required to be confined at home, where they will be guarded by city policemen, or institutions designated by the health department.

Violators of the home confinement would be forced to stay in isolation until the health department issues a clearance.

Tez Valencia, city information officer, said there are no fines for quarantine violators.

However, crematoriums and funeral parlors that would refuse SARS victims would be slapped with a P5,000 fine.

The ordinance also directs barangay officials to conduct massive weekly clean-up drives on esteros, rivers, streets, alleys and other public places.

The city government initially protested the national government’s plan to make RITM into a SARS-priority center.

However, RITM doctors and staff later explained to city officials that merely transporting patients would not be contagious.

High grade fever, weakness of the body, and shortness of breath, are SARS symptoms.

One’s history of travel from SARS-infected countries and having close contact with confirmed SARS cases are common are also main considerations to determined if one is a probable SARS case. – Nikko Dizon