Quarantine officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Monday visited Beijing's Capital International Airport and International Travel Health Care Center, giving high praise to China's work in checking the spread of SARS.
"The measures taken in China's airports, hotels and many other public places are very comprehensive and I'm very confident that the Chinese people can win the battle against SARS," said Lock WaiHan, commissioner of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority in Singapore.
"The prevention work in China is excellent. It's much better than I thought. What China has done in the airport is very impressive. I will go back and improve our procedures," said Dr. Pitaya Laorakpong, a medical officer with the Bureau of General Communicable Disease in the Department of Disease Control under Thailand's Ministry of Public Health.
The officials were in Beijing to attend a meeting held Sunday on quarantine management cooperation between China and ASEAN countries.
At the airport, they inquired in detail about the measures taken, including effective dissemination of knowledge on SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) for passengers entering or leaving the country, quarantine measures for passengers on entry or exit, medical facilities like infrared body temperature detectors and special passages and wards for suspect cases.
The representatives were impressed by a machine which can read and check the health declaration forms, which was just developed by the Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"In Bangkok, we use 20 people to do the reading," said Pitaya Laorakpong. "It's a really time-consuming procedure. The machine can help save time, make it efficient for travelers to board and, most important, you have less human contact."
Beijing Capital International Airport is an important gate connecting the whole country and the world. During the period from April 20 to May 30, there were 162,252 passengers entering or exiting, and 311 SARS suspects were found.
Beijing International Travel Health Care Center was designated as a medical service unit for entry-exit personnel. It is responsible for providing health care consultation, physical examination, vaccination, international first-aid and laboratory testing.
(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2003)
