Health officials are bracing for a possible spread of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-like virus from Wuhan, China, to Indonesia following confirmation from Chinese authorities that the disease can spread among humans, just days before Chinese New Year.

“A country’s preparedness [for the Wuhan coronavirus] is a must,” the Health Ministry’s surveillance and quarantine director, Vensya Sitohang, told The Jakarta Post via text message on Tuesday.

Officials gathered for a meeting at the Health Ministry in Jakarta on Tuesday to discuss the coronovirus outbreak that has killed six and infected some 300 people.

“We’re currently having a meeting at the ministry on the latest developments regarding the Wuhan coronavirus,” Anas Ma’ruf, who heads the health office at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, said on the sidelines of the meeting.

He added that the meeting specifically discussed the virus’s ability to spread from human to human.

Meanwhile, officials at the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing and the Consulate General in Hong Kong said Indonesians residing in China were safe.

The fact that the virus could be transmitted from human to human forced health authorities at airports to raise awareness and vigilance among travelers.

“The information of the human-to-human transmission has prompted health authorities to increase vigilance at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport,” Anas said.

University of Indonesia pulmonologist and respiratory health expert Fathiyah Isbaniah urged the public to remain calm but to maintain a high degree of hygiene and sanitation.

“To prevent possible infection, we should not go to endemic areas and use hand sanitizer after touching public things, such as a lift button or handrail,” she said.

Fathiyah also urged the government to increase surveillance at entry points, especially with Chinese New Year coming up.

“All seaports and airports should be monitored closely, especially when there are flights from Wuhan,” she said.

The Health Ministry announced on Monday that it was increasing preventive action, early detection and responsive measures at entrance points across the country.

Ports and airports have put up thermal scanners to monitor people for fever — a common symptom of the coronavirus — in accordance with a ministerial recommendation from Jan. 5. Travel advisories have been in place since Jan. 3 for destinations affected by the virus, while passengers arriving from overseas are given mandatory health alert cards to fill out.

A Chinese official has sought to allay concerns about a possible repeat of the 2002 to 2003 SARS epidemic that killed nearly 800 people globally, Reuters reported.

The new virus belongs to the same family of coronaviruses that caused SARS, which also started in China.

Zhong Nanshan, the official investigating the outbreak, said it took two weeks to identify the new virus but it was still in its early stages and China had the capacity to contain it.

The Indonesian missions in Beijing and Hong Kong confirmed late Monday that there had been no reports of Indonesians affected by the virus.

“It’s safe [here],” said Mandala Purba, the acting consul general in Hong Kong.

Michelle Kezia, chairwoman of the Indonesian Students Association in Hong Kong (PPI-HK), argued that the outbreak was far enough away not to raise any concern, even after reports that a Hong Kong resident was affected. “For the time being we aren’t worried,” she told the Post on Tuesday. According to PPI-HK data, there are about 600 Indonesian students in the city.

In mainland China, Indonesians are also going about their activities as usual.

“Indonesians here have been well informed by the warnings from the embassy and consulates […]. In Beijing, they continue their daily activities as usual,” said Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun, who added that they were now preparing for the Lunar New Year celebrations.

An estimated 175,000 Indonesians reside in Hong Kong and almost 1 million in mainland China and Taiwan combined, according to various government sources.

According to the Flightradar24 tracking website, 2,131 outbound flights are scheduled to depart from Wuhan for other Chinese cities and another 205 flights for cities abroad from Jan. 20 to Jan. 27. Indonesian carriers Lion Air and Sriwijaya Air run direct flights to Wuhan.

Indonesia continues to welcome Chinese tourists, officials have said. Statistics Indonesia recorded about 13.5 million tourists from January to October last year, 160,400 of whom were from China.

A Shanghai-based online travel agency found that people from more than 100 Chinese cities had booked travel arrangements to nearly 500 destinations worldwide. Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore were among the most popular destinations in Asia, state news agency Xinhua said.

With no vaccine currently available, the new virus has spread from Wuhan in Central China to other cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, with nearly 300 cases reported so far. Five cases have also been reported outside China — in South Korea, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan. The Philippines is also investigating a suspected case of the virus, according to Reuters.

The World Health Organization has said the virus most likely spread from contact with animals, although some “limited human-to-human transmission” can also occur. The WHO’s emergency panel is set to hold a meeting this week to discuss the outbreak, AFP reported. (mpr/tjs)

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