The Macao Special Administrative Region government on Wednesday set up a daily communication channel on the prevention of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) with the neighboring Zhuhai City, where one case of SARS has been confirmed.

Koi Kuok Ieng, director of the Health Service of the Macao government, said that at a meeting with officials from Zhuhai's health, immigration and the border quarantine bureaus Wednesday, the two sides have agreed to notify each other on the SARS situation on a daily basis as well as to step up SARS prevention.

Prior to this, Macao has only established the daily SARS communication channel with Beijing.

At Wednesday's meeting, the Macao authority brought up a proposal to seek Zhuhai's help in the cremation of SARS victims, in case of a fatality succumbed to SARS in Macao, which doesn't have a crematorium.

The Zhuhai side has agreed to seriously attend to a solution of the matter.

In a tightened quarantine check effort, fixed infrared thermometers were put into service round-the-clock at Macao's three main checkpoints on Wednesday, which screen visitors' body temperature upon their entry.

Beginning on May 1, visitors to Macao and Macao residents will be obliged to submit health declaration forms along with their passports at all of Macao's entry ports.

The second PCR test result given by the Hong Kong Health Department to a possible SARS patient in Macao, a 52-year-old man, has come out negative of SARS. A Dutch student, who had formerly been suspected of contracting SARS, has been diagnosed as having an ordinary type of pneumonia. He left hospital Tuesday.

On Wednesday, 15 people, who were found to have a high fever, were sent to the special emergency room in the Macao Government Hospital for medical examination. Four of them needed further blood checks for possible SARS symptoms.

(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2003)