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12 - Shanghai, 21.05.2003 Dear compatriots As promised in my last mail, I am now able to clarify the issue of possible quarantine after returning from SARS-affected areas in China. Attached you will find the list received from the Ministry of Public Health dated May 20, 2003 (pdf, 1 p., 12 kb). According to the rules set by the Shanghai Municipal Government, any Shanghai-resident returning from any of the Provinces listed under point 1, or returning from any City listed under point 2 will have to undergo a 14 days-quarantine at home. The list will be updated regularly. It is apparently not available yet online but I will inform you of any web site as soon as it becomes available. Best regards. The Consul General of Switzerland Hans J. Roth Dear compatriots, As promised, the Mayor of Shanghai, Mr. Han Zheng, this morning held the second briefing for the Consular Corps of Shanghai. To underline the importance of the foreign community to the Municipal Government, the briefing was also attended by several other high ranking officials such as the Vice-Mayor in charge of foreign relations as well as the Secretary General of the Municipal Government. The meeting was held in an open and candid atmosphere. The Consulates prepared a common list of pending issues presented to the Mayor by the Dean of the Consular Corps. These issues were immediately addressed by the Mayor. The meeting was concluded with a question and answer session. I am happy to say that all issues raised by the Consulates General during the meeting were already known to the Municipal Government and had obviously been discussed extensively among government authorities. The Government is fully aware of the issues still pending and is working hard to resolve them. Some of the questions were answered immediately by the Mayor himself, showing excellent knowledge of the problems raised. For the other ones, he promised an answer within a few days. Among others, the following issues were addressed:
The Consulate General has the very clear impression that the Shanghai Municipal authorities have a full understanding of the SARS issue. They are showing excellent competence in their way to handle it and are fully aware of the problems important to the foreign community. They are accepting that shortcomings still exist but they are working hard to address them. The difficulties faced are largely due to the number of authorities involved, from the State Council down to the local Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The fact that such a situation is new to everyone does naturally not make things easier. For your reference I am also enclosing a list of the local CDC's in Shanghai (pdf, 1 p., 16 kb). Let me also remind you of the web site http://www.sinoptic.ch/shanghai/sars/ where the complete list of our previous communications is online. We will naturally continue to inform you of any new development in the next few days, hopefully a lifting of some of the more restrictive measures. The Consul General of Switzerland Hans J. Roth
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