Risk of Mers cases in China has ‘increased significantly’, says government
Health authorities, hospitals told to prepare for potential cases of Mers as Beijing tries to confirm accuracy of South Korean media report saying a Chinese national in South Korea has illness
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 10 June, 2015, 12:26pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 10 June, 2015, 4:19pm
Mimi Lau in Guangdong and Nectar Gan [email protected] [email protected]
National Health and Family Planning Commission spokesman Mao Qunan said people travelling to South Korea or the Middle East should be aware of the potential risks from the illness. Photo: SCMP Pictures
China’s main health authority said on Wednesday that the risk of cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or Mers, spreading to the country has increased significantly and urged people travelling to South Korea or the Middle East to be vigilant of the potential health risks.
Mao Qunan, a spokesman for the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told a news briefing in Beijing that the government’s prevention and control measures were focused on preventing cases of Mers entering China.
“Because our country has relatively frequent contact with people from South Korea and the Middle East, and especially now that South Korea has an outbreak, our experts have assessed that the risk of importing cases has increased significantly,” he said.
However, Mao sidestepped the issue of whether Beijing would follow the decision by Taipei, Hong Kong and Macau to issue travel warnings regarding South Korea, where 108 Mers cases have been reported and nine people have died..
“The current advice from the World Health Organisation is not to impose travel and trade restrictions on the affected region,” Mao told reporters. “Whether we are going to issue any ban or warning over travelling, it’s something we need to discuss with members of our tourism department.”
He also called on the public to cooperate with medical observation measures, and said the Chinese government had been working closely with the South Korean government through diplomatic channels to find out the accuracy of a South Korean media report that claimed a Chinese national in South Korea had become infected with Mers.
“At this stage, I cannot confirm [if any Chinese has been infected],” Mao said.
State television reported early morning that several government departments had re-issued a 2014 July circular listing precautionary measures against Mers, including those to step up checks on people, cargo and letters arriving from affected regions. The departments involved include the foreign ministry, quarantine administration, the health commission and the China National Tourism Administration.
A China National Tourism Administration employee said early on Wednesday afternoon that it had no information about whether any travel advisory would be issued.
Health authorities had been told to prepare staff and hospitals to treat any potential cases of the illness, said Mao.
People who have been to the Middle East and South Korea should see a doctor without delay if they develop symptoms or should tell their medic that they have been to areas at risk.
Symptoms created by the virus include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
A 44-year-old man from South Korea, who is the son of a confirmed Mers patient back in his homeland, is receiving treatment in hospital in Huizhou in southern Guangdong province.
The man travelled to Huizhou late last month via Hong Kong.
The Southern Metropolis News reported on Wednesday that all 75 people who came into close contact with the 44-year-old South Korean Mers sufferer that entered mainland China were expected to finish 14 days of quarantine this evening (Wednesday) after testing negative for the deadly infection. The condition of the patient has also improved after two weeks of treatment.
South Korea’s infections have all been traced to a man who developed Mers after returning from a trip to the Middle East in early May and who came into contact with other patients at a hospital before he was diagnosed.
The virus particularly affects the respiratory system and it was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
