Intensified quarantine at airports

Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza directed Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Edgardo Manda yesterday to intensify quarantine procedures being implemented at the airports to maintain the country’s SARS-free status.

Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed the Philippines from the list of areas affected by the killer disease. The country was declared SARS-free after passing the 20-day period with no detection of new cases.

"We welcome the WHO declaration that the country is finally SARS-free. What should be done now is to implement the necessary measures at the airports to monitor all those that are coming in the country to identify those possible SARS carriers and immediately place them under quarantine," Mendoza said.

WHO said the last locally acquired probable case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was isolated on April 30, meaning that the probability for the virus to spread has significantly been reduced. The agency said this is a reliable indication that transmission has been interrupted as 20 days represent twice the maximum incubation period.

Mendoza said MIAA officials should closely coordinate with health personnel in the airports as well as the airline companies to ensure that every passenger that are entering the country, especially those that are coming from SARS-affected countries, should be accounted for.

"Since everybody is allowed to enter the country, the best we can do is to make sure that no SARS-infected passengers will be able to slip into the country without undergoing the necessary quarantine to make sure that it would not result to local transmission," Mendoza said.

The Department of Health (DOH) has, to date, reported a total of 12 probable SARS cases and two deaths.

For his part, DOTC spokesman Thompson Lantion said SARS monitoring is also being conducted at all ports in the country.

"The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has also been tasked to monitor foreigners who are suspected SARS carriers and may enter the country through fishing vessels," Lantion said.

So far, at least 7,919 probable SARS cases with 662 deaths have been reported in 28 countries.

Absolutely no let-up

Relishing the delisting of the country from the SARS list, the DOH assured the public there will be no let-up in the government’s campaign to prevent the entry of "imported" SARS cases.

"We suffered the consequences so we’ll do our best to maintain our SARS-free status. We don’t want to suffer again," said Dr. Consorcia Quizon, head of DOH’s National Epidemiology Center.

The DOH managed to control the chain of transmissions that stemmed from Canada-based nursing assistant Adela Catalon, who infected her father Mauricio and an X-ray technician from the San Lazaro Hospital.

She later spread the disease to five other persons, prompting the WHO to include the Philippines in the SARS-affected countries list.

The inclusion resulted in several travel advisories against the Philippines.

Quizon noted that as precautionary measures, people coming from SARS-affected countries would be thoroughly screened at the airports to determine if they have any SARS symptoms.

"Our focus now is to lookout for imported SARS cases because they might eventually cause local transmission of the disease. So right at the airport, their temperature will be taken by health workers there. If there’s a need to quarantine them, that will be done," she added.

As a policy, travelers coming from SARS-affected countries or those who came in contact with SARS cases are being checked at the airports for symptoms.

Those manifesting SARS symptoms are brought directly to hospitals for isolation while those that do not are still advised to undergo home quarantine for two weeks, the incubation period for the symptoms.

"Not just because we have just been delisted, we will take SARS for granted. There is no place for complacency here. Nothing will change in our level of alertness and vigilance," Quizon said. – Sheila Crisostomo