VN is ready to cope with any new SARS outbreak: institute
HA NOI — Viet Nam is on SARS red alert after Singapore on Wednesday confirmed its first positive case of the deadly virus since the outbreak was declared over July.
"It’s possible that SARS could return but I personally think Viet Nam is not among the high-risk countries," said National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute deputy director, Pham Ngoc Dinh.
Director of the institute, Professor Hoang Thuy Long, said all the country’s border crossings are undertaking strict surveillance and hospitals are prepared to receive any suspected case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
The Ministry of Health has invested some US$10 million, including a $6 million loan from the Asian Development Bank, to establish a hi-tech health centre, and purchase more X-ray machines, testing equipment and respirators.
Body temperature measurements are now compulsory at all the country’s airports and seaports – any visitors entering Viet Nam with a temperature above 38oC will be quarantined immediately and sent to SARS-control centres for further observation.
Authorities at local-level have been asked to maintain preventive measures against SARS and keep up campaigns to raise people’s awareness of the fatal virus, said deputy director Dinh, who added SARS has not been found in any animals in Viet Nam so far.
The National SARS Control Board, headed by the health minister Tran Thi Trung Chien, has been holding review meetings every two weeks to monitor SARS-control efforts across the country.
Only two weeks ago, the health ministry, in co-operation with the National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute, Bach Mai Hospital, Institute for the Control of Tropical Diseases and the French Hospital, worked with a Japanese health team, led by its health minister, to formulate the best response to a possible return of SARS.
SARS originated in southern China, and was spread to 30 countries by travellers earlier this year.
The virus infected nearly 8,500 people worldwide, killing over 800 people, including five in Viet Nam.
SARS was first detected in Viet Nam on February 23 this year and was brought under control by April 24. — VNS
