RP CONSULATE IN HK BRIEFS NAIA GENERAL MANAGER ON SARS
Philippine Consul General to Hong Kong Victoria S. Bataclan gave NAIA General
Manager Edgardo C. Manda a detailed briefing on the precautionary measures
being undertaken by the Hong Kong Airport Authority officials during his
one-day visit to Hong Kong on 12 April 2003.
Ms. Bataclan informed Mr. Manda that officials at Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok
airport had imposed the following rules to assure safety of arriving and
departing passengers:
Arriving passengers are required to submit a health declaration form indicating
whether they have any symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath and difficulty
of breathing. They must also indicate the countries or cities visited in
the last 10 days prior to their arrival in Hong Kong. Designated medical
personnel, in turn, assess these health
declarations. Passengers found with SARS symptoms are referred to designated
hospitals.
Departing passengers are likewise required to submit a health declaration
which indicates whether they have cared for, lived with, or had contact with
the respiratory secretions or body fluids of a SARS infected person(s).
If so, they are referred to the Airport Port Health Office. Passengers
will not be allowed to board any flight unless they show a “fit for travel”
certificate issued by a medical doctor.
Other than from Consul General Bataclan, Mr. Manda was also informed about
precautionary measures from PAL Country Manager Joanne Sarmiento, PAL Station
Manager Julia Hyder and Cebu Pacific Manager Edwin Bautista.
Ms. Bataclan has said that close coordination with government authorities
of SARS affected countries, strict implementation of precautionary measures
and an earnest information campaign on SARS prevention are essential to the
containment of the SARS infection.