The Shanghai quarantine authority is carrying out strict and effective checks on planes, ships and passengers entering and exiting the city, a quarantine official said Tuesday.
The Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau is closely monitoring the arrivals and departures of 200 daily flights, 60 ships and 20,000 people, in order to prevent the import of additional cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and in order to ensure that the disease is not spread to other places via Shanghai, said Chen Xinyao, a senior bureau official.
According to orders issued by the bureau, prior to landing, airlines should provide SARS prevention information to passengers, and if a possible SARS case is found, hand out masks, isolate anyone with SARS symptoms and report the suspected case to the quarantine authority.
The measures require overseas passengers to fill out a health card with contact addresses in China in the event that they are carrying the virus but displaying non-explicit symptoms during the SARS latent period.
Shanghai is also sterilizing transport vehicles arriving from countries and regions hardest hit by SARS, the official said.
(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2003)
