Quarantine officials from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) Monday visited Beijing's Capital International
Airport and International Travel Health Care Center, giving high
praise to China's work in checking the spread of SARS.
"The measures taken in China's airports, hotels and many other
public places are very comprehensive and I'm very confident that
the Chinese people can win the battle against SARS," said Lock
WaiHan, commissioner of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority
in Singapore.
"The prevention work in China is excellent. It's much better than I
thought. What China has done in the airport is very impressive. I
will go back and improve our procedures," said Dr. Pitaya
Laorakpong, a medical officer with the Bureau of General
Communicable Disease in the Department of Disease Control under
Thailand's Ministry of Public Health.
The officials were in Beijing to attend a meeting held Sunday on
quarantine management cooperation between China and ASEAN
countries.
At
the airport, they inquired in detail about the measures taken,
including effective dissemination of knowledge on SARS (severe
acute respiratory syndrome) for passengers entering or leaving the
country, quarantine measures for passengers on entry or exit,
medical facilities like infrared body temperature detectors and
special passages and wards for suspect cases.
The representatives were impressed by a machine which can read and
check the health declaration forms, which was just developed by the
Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau and the Chinese
Academy of Sciences.
"In Bangkok, we use 20 people to do the reading," said Pitaya
Laorakpong. "It's a really time-consuming procedure. The machine
can help save time, make it efficient for travelers to board and,
most important, you have less human contact."
Beijing Capital International Airport is an important gate
connecting the whole country and the world. During the period from
April 20 to May 30, there were 162,252 passengers entering or
exiting, and 311 SARS suspects were found.
Beijing International Travel Health Care Center was designated as a
medical service unit for entry-exit personnel. It is responsible
for providing health care consultation, physical examination,
vaccination, international first-aid and laboratory testing.
(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2003)