TT STILL ON SARS CASE

While the threat posed by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) appears to be abating with the removal of Hong Kong and Beijing from the World Health Organisation (WHO) list of countries with recent transmission, a Health Official yesterday said surveillance at TT’s sea and air ports will continue.

Hong Kong and China had the largest number of SARS cases and deaths worldwide. Ag Chief Medical Officer Dr Rampersad Parasram yesterday said caution has to be exercised and surveillance will continue “as long as necessary.” He said the Health Ministry has been receiving periodic reports and the local response plan has been reviewed. In April the Ministry instituted a system whereby visitors to TT are required to complete a SARS Declaration Form detailing their travel history for the past two weeks and stating if they are presently with any SARS symptoms  (fever, respiratory symptoms). Any  probable SARS cases will be referred for further medical assessment.

To date there has been no local reports of SARS. SARS, a member of the coronavirus family  has been traced to southern China but scientists are yet to determine its origin. Up to yesterday the WHO website reported 8,456 cases (between November 1, 2002 and yesterday) with 809 deaths. It said only Taiwan and Toronto continue to experience  “chains of local transmission.”   WHO said former SARS “hotspots” Hong Kong and Singapore plan to continue with high levels of surveillance supported by measures for screening and detection until at least the end of the year.