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| Suspected SARS patients to be forcibly quarantined in S.Korea |
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Anyone entering South Korea who is suspected of having severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) will be forcibly quarantined as from this Friday, according to South Korean Prime Minister Goh Kun on Monday.
"By revising enforcement of the Quarantine Act as soon as possible, the government will make sure that quarantine measures for cholera area and bubonic plague are also applied to SARS," the premier said in a public statement after holding an emergency meeting of related ministries to discuss measures for combating the deadly virus.
Goh also said the government would dispatch personnel in addition to the medical and military officials deployed in four quarantine stations in the country to more closely check travelers entering and leaving South Korea.
"The government will set up portable quarantine facilities for SARS patients as well as an emergency medical clinic of the National Institute of Health (NIH) at the Incheon International Airport quarantine station," said Goh, adding that it would secure a hospital which will be responsible for quarantining and treating SARS patients.
The premier also said the government would use some six billion won (4.9 million US dollars) emergency budget to prevent the possible spread of the infectious disease and to treat the patients. The government will bear all medical expenses if and when patients suspected of suffering from SARS are forcibly isolated.
According to NIH, 13 suspected SARS patients reported in South Korea, but none of them is confirmed SARS case as of Monday.
Of the 13, six patients are hospitalized, four are isolated at home and the remainder have finished their quarantine and have no abnormal symptoms, the NIH was quoted by national news agency Yonhap as reporting.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
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