TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Health checks rolled out in Riau Islands to anticipate entry of Zika virus
Change Size
An Aedes aegypti mosquito sits inside a glass tube at the Fiocruz institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 23, where they have been screening for mosquitoes infected with the Zika virus. (AP/Felipe Dana, File)
T
he Health Ministry has assigned health officials to stand guard at eight Riau Islands sea ports that serve routes to Singapore as an anticipatory measure to limit the spread of the Zika virus following reports of infections in the city-state.
There have been 193 officials assigned since Monday at ports in Batam, Bintan and Karimun, Riau Islands Health Agency head Tjepjep Yudiana said on Tuesday. Tjepjep said the health agency had cooperated with port authorities since reports that 41 people had tested positive for the virus in Singapore.
"As the region closest to Singapore, we taking measures to anticipate the virus entering Riau Islands via passengers who have visited Singapore," he told The Jakarta Post.
All passengers entering through the eight ports who have come from Singapore must pass through a thermal scan to check their body temperature, Tjepjep said.
The health office has also appointed three hospitals to handle people infected with the Aedes mosquito-borne virus. The hospitals are Embung Fatimah in Batam, Provincial Hospital in Tanjungpinang and Karimun Regional Hospital.
Meanwhile, Batam Port Health Office chief Anas Makruf said passengers arriving in Batam also needed to fill in a health report card to look for symptoms such as fever, rash, red eyes and headache.
"We will conduct a further check if a passenger has experienced two of the four symptoms," he said. (rin)
