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Indonesia heightens surveillance at ports of entry amid coronavirus fears
Health authorities have taken precautions at 19 prioritized ports of entry that have direct connections with China.
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Medical staff carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital, where patients infected by a mysterious SARS-like virus are being treated, in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on Jan. 18. (AFP/Stringer)
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mid a rising death toll and reports of human-to-human transmissions of the Wuhan coronavirus worldwide, the government has said it has increased surveillance at air and water ports and taken other measures aimed at containing the virus.
“We’re currently waiting for the results of the WHO meeting, the government will take further steps if a public health emergency is declared,” the Health Ministry’s contagious disease prevention and monitoring director Wiendra Waworuntu said at a press conference on Wednesday.
For its containment strategy, she said Indonesia adhered to the 2005 WHO International Health Regulations, and would follow guidelines from the WHO if issued.
The world is in a state of alarm after the coronavirus, which bears similarities to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), was first detected on Dec. 31 in Wuhan, China. The new strain of virus has infected at least 440 people to date, killing nine.
The WHO was due to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to determine whether to declare a rare global public health emergency over the disease, which has now been detected in the United States, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Macau.
“We’ve already increased our surveillance after it was announced it could transmitted between humans. However, once the WHO declares a Public Health Emergency of International Concern [PHIEC], it will publish guidelines that countries must be follow,” Soekarno-Hatta International Airport health authority chief Anas Ma’ruf said.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Widyawati, said health authorities had taken precautions at 19 prioritized ports of entry that have direct connections with China.
