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.

Jakarta Post

Paramedics on alert at Batam ports over Zika

The Health Ministry has ordered 193 paramedics to be on alert at eight seaports in Batam, Bintan and Karimun in Riau Islands in anticipation of the Zika virus entering the country through visitors from Singapore

Fadli (The Jakarta Post)
Batam
Wed, August 31, 2016

Share This Article

Change Size

Paramedics on alert at Batam ports over Zika

T

he Health Ministry has ordered 193 paramedics to be on alert at eight seaports in Batam, Bintan and Karimun in Riau Islands in anticipation of the Zika virus entering the country through visitors from Singapore.

Passengers traveling from Singapore are being subjected to thermal scans to measure their body temperatures. They are also being given forms for them to fill out explaining their physical condition.

The measures have been taken following the reports that 56 people had contracted the Zika virus in Singapore.

Riau Islands Health Agency head Tjejep Yudiana told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that since the discovery of the Zika infections in Singapore his team had coordinated with the seaport health offices in Batam, Bintan and Karimun.

Of the 193 paramedics on duty, he said, 95 were assigned to five international seaports in Batam, 57 were assigned to two seaports in Bintan and the remaining 41 were assigned to a port in Karimun.

“As a region bordering with Singapore we are prepared to anticipate the entrance of the Zika virus into Riau Islands through passengers coming from that country,” Tjejep said.

He said his office had also designated three hospitals in the region as reference hospitals for Zika cases should the virus be detected in passengers. The three hospitals are Embung Fatimah Batam hospital, the provincial administration-owned hospital in Tanjungpinang and the RSUD Karimun hospital.

“Since Monday the thermal scanners at all international seaports have been reactivated. This is an anticipatory measure,” Tjejep said.

Separately, head of the Batam city seaport health office, Anas Makruf, said two of their thermal scanning devices were damaged so manual scanning was being conducted.

The manual scanning, he said, involved scanning passengers’ faces to measure their body temperatures.

Anas also said all passengers arriving in Batam were required to fill out forms on their medical histories to monitor the health condition of the respective passengers through recording high temperatures, sore eyes, rashes or headaches.

“If, based on the record cards, they have two out of the four indicators, then we will examine them further,” Anas said.

Anas said the source of the Zika virus found in Singapore was not yet known, but it may have spread after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil.

“It’s the authority of Singapore to investigate, but certainly Zika virus was first found in Brazil,” Anas said.

He added that the health office at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport had also conducted intensive health examinations of Indonesia’s Olympics team upon their arrival.

“The team so far has been declared clear based on the examinations by the health office at Soekarno-Hatta airport,” Anas said.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.