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)
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