Three passengers from SARS-hit Chinese province quarantined
None shows any symptoms
By Samantha Alleyne
Stabroek News
May 9, 2003
Out of an abundance of caution, the Ministry of Health on Wednesday evening quarantined three Chinese who recently left Guangdong Province in China, one of the areas most affected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
A senior health official told Stabroek News yesterday that none of the persons was ill but the ministry was just taking the necessary precautions to prevent the pneumonia-like virus from entering the country.
The official said the father and his two children had arrived in Guyana on Wednesday afternoon and as a precaution they were transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) where they will be quarantined for the next seven days.
The official said that the decision was made to take the three to the hospital since it was the only place that had isolated an area specifically for suspected SARS cases.
SARS has killed more then 500 persons worldwide, most of them in China and other Asian countries, and has infected thousands in more than thirty-five countries.
Stabroek News understands that the three were taken to the hospital by a driver who had on a face mask.
A man who said he was a friend of the man and his children, told Stabroek News on Wednesday night at the hospital that he went to the airport to pick up the three who had been on a visit to Thailand. However, he said that he was told by the health officials at the airport that they should be taken to the hospital.
Describing the situation as "terrible" the man said that the father lived in Guyana and had only been on holiday.
The health official could not confirm whether the persons actually lived in Guyana and stated that they could have been travelling from Thailand since they had passed through a number of countries before arriving here, the last being Trinidad.
According to the official when the persons arrived at the airport the health official telephoned his superiors who then instructed that the persons be taken to the hospital.
Several hospital employees were anxious since they seemed to believe the three were infected with SARS.
The official said staff members were duly informed about the situation but assured those concerned that the persons were not ill.
The official said that only personnel who had been prepared to work in the ward would come into contact with the trio. Other employees of the hospital need not go to that section of the hospital.
Asked whether measures taken by the ministry at the airport were sufficient, the official said what Guyana had done was no different from other countries.
At the moment the ministry has health officials at the airport who question passengers arriving from infected areas. They are advised to visit a physician should they develop any symptom of SARS - high temperature, coughing, breathing difficulties - and they are also given a green card informing them of the disease.
The health official said while the World Health Organisation had counselled countries to advise persons who arrive from infected areas to stay in their homes for a period of time they decided not do so in Wednesday's case.
He explained that many Chinese nationals reside above restaurants and should it turn out that the three persons were infected they could not only infect their families but the public.
He pointed out that in China persons were being quarantined and were being asked not to travel from state to state.
The family of the three persons will take food for them at the hospital but would have no contact until after the seven-day period.
