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Timor-Leste Boosts Virus Vigilance, as China Locks Down More Cities

Timor-Leste Boosts Virus Vigilance, as China Locks Down More Cities

Medical staff transfer patients to hospital in Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began (Image/Getty)

DILI, 22 January 2020 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste’s Council of Ministers  (KM) has passed a resolution approving extra surveillance at the country’s main airport, in response to a virus outbreak that’s now spread to five countries across Asia and the US.

An outbreak of coronavirus has now infected 581 people and killed 17, the according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Most of those infected come from the city of Wuhan in China, but all of the other patients — in Hong Kong, Maucau, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and the USA — had travel history to the city, the WHO said.

The KM resolution was presented by Vice-Minister of Health, Elia Antonia de Araujo dos Reis Amaral, and binds Timor-Leste to a global effort to combat the virus, under the International Sanitation Regulations (ISR).

Vice-Minister of Primary Health, Élia António de Araújo dos Reis Amaral. (Image/Egas Cristovão)

“It has been eight years [since TL ratified the ISR], thus we need to update the available regulations, [our] technical capacity and basic infrastructure in respond to public concern,” Ms Antonia said on Wednesday.

The response involves “maximum surveillance” at the border, and tighter controls on food and drug imports, she said. The Ministry of Health will also install six mobile thermo-scan machines at the airport immigration zone, to screen passengers for any signs of fever.

Nicolau Lobato International Airport in Comoro, Dili (Image/Tatoli)

There are no direct Wuhan-Dili flights; in-bound passengers must transit through airports such as Jakarta or Denpasar (Bali). But all passengers will be required to present a health declaration letter, and if symptoms are detected, passengers will be held in isolation on site.

“According to our information the person can have medical treatment, but cannot be cured, because the disease infects our both of [the] lungs… so we’ll keep [them] in isolation because when the lungs are infiltrated [patients] can transmit to other person, [so] we want to prevent that,” she said.

The World Health Organisation said coronavirus comes from a family of viruses that include the common cold, the MERS virus, and SARS — which killed 774 people in 37 countries from 2002-03.

“[Coronovirus] has occurred not just in China, but in Asia, close to Timor-Leste thus we need to take serious prevention steps,” Elia said.

Ms Antonia said the government will reactivate the ‘Sortu’ commission, first set up four years ago. It brings together the Ministries of Health, Finance, the Interior, Transport, Communication and Defense, to coordinate prevention measures.

The Government will also work with World Health Organisation to prevent the virus spreading.

18 Million People in lockdown

With the Lunar New Year beginning on Saturday, millions of Chinese will begin journeying homewards to celebrate with their families, sparking fears the virus will spread.

But at the source of the virus, the city of Wuhan, 11 million people are under effective lockdown. City authorities have effectively locked down the area, according a report by Deutsche Welle, shutting down all public transportation services, including high-speed trains in and out of the city. That containment zone has since spread to neighbouring cities of Huanggang and Ezhou, according to ABC News, an area home to 18 million.

The WHO said it was first notified of new outbreak of the coronavirus on December 31. The Organisation said common symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

In its latest situation report on the outbreak, the WHO said its officials are “in regular and direct contact with Chinese” authorities, and those of other affected countries, in fielding its data.

But health experts across Asia doubt the official figures, including Piotr Chlebicki, an Singapore-based infectious disease expert who worked on the nation’s SARS epidemic.

“China has a track record of under-reporting cases, so the true picture may be completely different,” he told the South China Morning Post.

Journalist: Antonia Gusmão

Editors: Robert Baird; Maria Auxiliadora

Translation: Nelia Borges

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