|
|
|||
|
Dear compatriots Since the last communication from this Consulate, the Governments of Shanghai and surrounding Provinces have taken a number of measures in order to reduce the danger of spreading SARS in their regions. The foreign Consulates in Shanghai have tried through different channels to find out exactly what the measures imply, the reason why you have not received any written communication since April 30, 2003. Unfortunately the different measures are still not clear. Today's briefing by the Mayor of Shanghai to the Consulates and selected multinational investors has shown the determination of the Shanghai Government to act but has not given any clearer ideas about the detailed measures. Actually the points mentioned by two European multinational companies at that briefing were that:
The Consulates will continue to work with the authorities for clarification and a further meeting is scheduled for Monday afternoon. You have read from different sources that certain measures of quarantine have been introduced and are starting to be implemented. Any official information and clarification we shall receive on these issues will be communicated immediately to you through the usual channel (see also our previous communications). It is already certain however that people returning from an affected area according to WHO-definitions (presently Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanxi, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Taiwan) must quarantine themselves (in Zhejiang, an additional health check in a hospital is required). This also includes members of the family. Children for instance will not be allowed to go to school during the quarantine period. It is also clear already, that the quarantine measures taken by Municipality and the surrounding Provinces will be pushed to the extreme in the next few days. People showing any symptoms of SARS (for instance showing signs of temperature) will be immediately put into quarantine. For the moment this still happens at home or in the hotels, this could however change very quickly. Quarantine at home, as shown recently in Hangzhou and Shanghai, already means that you are not allowed to leave the apartment for any reason like shopping or eating out. One further important point is that the definition of "affected area" has not been clarified and is changing from city to city and day to day. Under these conditions we strongly recommend you not to travel out of Shanghai if it is not absolutely necessary or if you have the slightest health problem. You will risk to be quarantined in a local hospital. The good news however is that the number of cases in the region, confirmed or suspected, remains stable so that there is no reason for panic or irrational actions. An updated list of SARS-cases by province is available at www.china.org.cn/english/features/SARS/62628.htm. Best regards The Consul
General of Switzerland Dear compatriots The Consulate General has participated today at the meeting given by the WHO-Delegation that just visited Shanghai. The meeting was held in an informal and open manner lasting 90 minutes. No higher Municipal Government officials were present. The WHO-Delegation informed that they were able to conduct their mission in an unhindered way and had access to all the facilities and persons they wanted to see, at random and often on a very short notice of 5 to 30 minutes. They visited hospitals and staff on different municipal levels, including the largest military hospital. They did not regard their duty as checking on the number of SARS-cases. Actually WHO urged Chinese authorities to follow another classification system than the one used up to now. Due to this change, effective April 22, 2003, the "SUSPECT" cases will increase in the short run. A suspect case is now a case of a person presenting symptoms of high fever and cough and showing X-rays anomalies. The condition of close contact with an infected person and/or travel to an infected area is not relevant anymore. Deducting from the actual mission, the WHO delegation thinks that the Shanghai numbers given so far by the authorities are probably not too far off the real numbers. The WHO-Mission did not see any sign of cover-up. The Delegation also followed up several rumors given to them by the foreign community in Shanghai and could not validate any of them. The Delegation then concentrated on the surveillance, detection and reporting system put in place by the authorities since about one month. A huge effort has been put into the system and while it is not perfect it is considered reasonable and does not present any obvious gaps. It has been modeled on the basis of a successful system in Guangzhou. Potential non-covered groups could in particular include the "floating population" where the access to medical services is not quite clear. But according to the delegation there are no visible barriers. Shanghai
has not been hit yet by SARS in a substantial way. Reasons include
a streak of sheer luck as no "super spreader" seems
to have traveled here. What will
happen then is unclear as the surveillance, detection and reporting
system put in place by the authorities has not been tested yet. The medical care itself is rated as good as "practice makes perfect". China has a lot of experience with SARS. However there are still discussions worldwide on how to treat the sickness effectively. Shanghai has also stocked up on ventilators and there should be around 200 of them available immediately. On the question of children, the Delegation stated that children are confronted with a much milder version of the sickness and are probably more immune to it than adults. On the question of parental access, the Delegation has raised the question with the authorities who promised that they will do anything they can to help in a specific case. The door is open for dialogue. On the question of masks, the Delegation said that "outdoors is the most secure place" and there is no need for masks there. They would however recommend to use them in closed and confined areas with a lot of people, including trains and airplanes. To summarize the above, the Consulate General can say that Shanghai and most probably Zhejiang and Jiangsu have been touched considerably less than other regions in China but there is no guarantee that this state of affairs will prevail in the next few weeks. As before the Consulate General insists on the hygienic measures described earlier and would discourage anyone from visiting crowded places unless there is a clear reason to do so. This is equally valid for travel plans during the upcoming holidays, especially for the interior of China where the situation is far from clear. For previous newsletters, please also visit the web site www.sinoptic.ch/shanghai/sars/. For updated information, visit the relevant web sites also mentioned on our previous newsletters. Any Swiss citizen in the Shanghai area not receiving these communications is strongly requested to register his or her email-address with this Consulate General. Best regards The Consul General of Switzerland Hans Jakob Roth Letter
to the Swiss community in Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang,
25.04.2003 Dear compatriots, The Consulate General was invited yesterday late afternoon to a further briefing by the Shanghai Municipal authorities. The meeting was substantial and open. The authorities are making a co-ordinated effort to keep the channels of information to the foreign community open. As you have read from the media and the web site from the Public Health Bureau, Shanghai has 2 confirmed cases. There are, as of yesterday April 22, another 8 suspected cases. Since the outbreak of SARS, Shanghai had a total of 34 people in isolation for observation. The Shanghai authorities have indicated that they are putting the accent on prevention and control in order to avoid an outbreak. They apparently started a contingency system in February already. The system seems to have been effective up to now. But they cannot estimate what will happen in ten days. A hotline is now in operation. You can reach it at 62 56 59 00. After office hours, you must dial 0 (zero) before the actual number. The service is also available in English. Telephone investigations with the Provincial Government of Zhejiang revealed that there are presently three confirmed cases in Hangzhou. The infection was imported by a traveller from Beijing who in turn infected her family. The rest of the relatives are under observation. The Province of Jiangsu confirms one case in Suzhou. It is an elderly man from Beijing who travelled to Suzhou for sightseeing. The May holidays have now been reduced in order to encourage travellers to stay home. Visits by Chinese delegations abroad have been cancelled. There are now strong travel restrictions for outbound travel. The Consulate General therefore recommends that you curtail non-essential travel out of Shanghai as there are now isolated cases of SARS in the surrounding Provinces. A WHO-team is presently in Shanghai monitoring the situation. We have requested a meeting with them and hope that, time permitting, the meeting will take place tomorrow April 24. We will naturally report any important information from that meeting back to you. Best regards. For the Consul General of Switzerland Beat Kaser Dear compatriots, The foreign consular representatives were invited this afternoon April 16 to a briefing by the Deputy Director General of the Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau. The following main points were mentioned:
The Shanghai authorities are clearly making an effort to have an open and transparent information policy. The situation in Shanghai does not appear to be as precarious as in other parts of China, mainly Guangzhou and now Beijing. The Consulate General however recommends continuing exercising caution and keeping strict hygiene rules. Regularly visit the now well known official web sites. Also visit our "archives" at http://www.sinoptic.ch/shanghai/sars/ where all previous communications from this Consulate General can be reviewed. Thank you once more to Sinoptic for a great job. Do not hesitate to contact the Consulate General for any comments or suggestions that will benefit the whole community as well as for questions that you might have. Best regards. For the Consul General of Switzerland Beat Kaser Dear compatriots, The SARS situation changes every day, and at times the rumors seem to be spreading faster than the disease. For the most accurate information, we strongly recommend that you rely on official national or international medical organizations who are investigating this illness, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) or the Swiss Federal Office for Public Health (BAG), as well as the Shanghai Municipality. This is particularly true for people who plan any travel over the Easter holidays. Please note that we have also put the Consulate General's information on SARS online. It can be consulted at www.sinoptic.ch/shanghai/sars/. The web site also hosts the communications from our Embassy in Beijing to its community. We are grateful to Sinoptic for this great service. As to the situation in the region of Shanghai, we can inform you of the following: At present, the Shanghai government is still only reporting one confirmed case of SARS. Recent press reports note that two foreigners in Mainland China, a Finnish citizen in Beijing and an American citizen in Shenzhen, have died due to SARS. For more information, on the situation in Shanghai you can visit the Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau's Website. We are also aware that approximately nine foreigners have been referred to the Pneumology Hospital as "suspected" SARS cases. Among these referrals are two American citizens Availability of medical facilities: As we noted in an earlier announcement, the Shanghai Pulmonary Disease or Pneumology Hospital (for adults) and the Shanghai Children's Medical Center (SCMC) have been designated as the hospitals to handle foreigners suspected to have contracted SARS. The American Consulate's Health Unit and other medical practitioners for the expatriate community visited the Pneumology Hospital. The foreigners' ward is located on the 14th floor of this relatively new facility. The group toured the hospital and spoke with senior staff about their procedures for dealing with SARS cases. They determined that the hospital was adequately prepared to handle SARS cases. The SCMC is a new, modern hospital that is experienced in dealing with critically ill children on a daily basis. They have set up five isolation rooms to handle suspected cases of SARS. For your benefit, we are repeating the contact information for the hospitals below:
We have now also received the contacts of the hospitals designated to handle foreigners in the Provinces of JIANGSU and ZHEJIANG. The complete list is here. We are continuing to monitor the situation as best as we can and will keep you informed of any important changes. For the Consul General of Switzerland Beat Kaser Dear compatriots, This is the fourth information mail that you receive from this Consulate General concerning the SARS-topic. Should you not receive this mail directly from the Consulate General please send a mail to vertretung@sha.rep.admin.ch if you wish to be added on our regular distribution list. I can inform
you that the Consulate General has been in daily contact with
the Shanghai Municipality. The official statement remains that
ONE case of SARS was confirmed in Shanghai on April 4, 2003.
The case has been isolated and is under treatment. The Municipality
now also provides a web site in English where regular updates
on SARS in Shanghai should become available: While this is good news, we recommend to stay cautious and to continue observing strict hygiene rules in your daily routine. There is presently no obvious reason to believe that the official figures from the Shanghai Municipality are not accurate although some doubts can remain because of the so far unconvincing information management by the local authorities. The American and German/French schools remain open and the one possible case of SARS at the American school was not confirmed. Visitors from China to Switzerland are presently facing some difficulties. Some meetings have been cancelled by the Swiss party which is usually not differentiating between visitors from Hong Kong / Guangzhou and the rest of China. The case of the Finnish ILO-employee who died on Sunday in Beijing does naturally not help. We therefore recommend to reconfirm your meetings or those of your staff/colleagues before starting off to Switzerland. However there is presently no ban on entry into Switzerland for any traveller from China on medical reasons. I am also attaching a document with a few remarks obtained from Amcham China and Hong Kong concerning various aspect of the illness. They might be interesting to you and answer some of your questions. The Consulate General will continue to monitor the situation very closely and will keep you informed of any new important developments. Best regards. For the Consul General of Switzerland Beat Kaser Dear compatriots Please be informed that the World Health Organization (www.who.int) as well as the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (www.bag.admin.ch) are recommending to avoid travels to Hong Kong and the Chinese Province of Guangdong. The recommendation from the WHO reads as follows: "The epidemic in Guangdong Province of China, situated adjacent to Hong Kong, is the largest outbreak of SARS reported and has also shown evidence of spread in the wider community. As a measure of precaution WHO is now recommending that persons travelling to Hong Kong and Guangdong Province of China consider postponing all but essential travel. This temporary recommendation will be reassessed in the light of the evolution of the epidemic in the areas currently indicated, and other areas of the world could become subject to similar recommendations if the situation demands. Please note that this recommendation applies only to travellers entering Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China and Guangdong Province of China, not to passengers directly transiting through international airports within those areas." Furthermore, the Chinese authorities informed on April 2, 2003 that 1190 cases are diagnosed with SARS in China and appeared in the following areas: 1153 in Guangdong province, 12 in Beijing, 11 in Xinjiang, 7 in Hunan, 4 in Shanxi and 3 in Sichuan. 46 persons died of this illness. As mentioned yesterday, Shanghai's Municipal authorities have identified the Shanghai Pulmonary Disease Hospital to serve as the quarantine hospital for foreigners. However any hospital is able to perform basic medical checkups. The Consulate General would, however, recommend that you visit a private foreign clinic for such a checkup if needed. The Consulate General would be grateful if you could inform it of any unusual developments as well. As previously mentioned please consult the following websites for further updated information: Swiss Federal
Office of Public Health: www.bag.admin.ch Thank you for the numerous suggestions and comments we have received concerning this SARS-problem. Best regards. For the Consul General of Switzerland Beat Kaser Dear compatriots The Consulate General was this afternoon invited to a briefing by the Deputy Head of Shanghai Public Health Bureau (SPHB) concerning the SRS situation. The following information was given officially:
Our impression is that the Shanghai authorities are now taking the situation seriously. It is to be assumed that there are at least a few more cases of SARS in Shanghai than the one case officially accepted. There is however no reason for panic or plan any drastic internal measures for the time being. The American School in Shanghai will close tomorrow and Friday and will reopen on Monday unless advised differently (please check their web site www.saschina.org). Please also refer to yesterday's communication for more information on web sites as well as preventive measures. Also note
that the Basel Watch Fair has decided not to allow exhibitors
from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam to work at the
fair. Visitors from these countries are however not affected
by this measure. Best regards. For the Consul General of Switzerland Beat Kaser Dear compatriots, You have all heard and read the news concerning the outbreak of cases of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Although the Consulate General of Switzerland in Shanghai has received information to the contrary, it must be assumed that there are several cases in Shanghai as well. The Consulate General is attentively following the development of the situation and is relying on the official information provided by the most relevant sources, mainly the World Health Organization and the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health as well as the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. So far, the World Health Organization has not issued any specific recommendations regarding travel in or to the affected regions. The Consulate General will not fail to inform the Swiss community should the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health recommend special measures. For more specific information on the development of SARS, in particular with regard to updated figures of cases of SARS, it is recommended to consult the following sites on internet : Swiss Federal
Office of Public Health: www.bag.admin.ch To identify a potential SARS-case the following three criteria must ALL be present, for those with the onset of illness after February 1, 2003:
The incubation period between exposure to infection and the development of symptoms appears to range from 2-7 days. For more specific information regarding case definition updates and empirical treatment doctors should consult and monitor the WHO's web sites. Currently, prevention of new cases is based on individuals avoiding close contact with SARS-infected persons, as described above. Persons matching the case description for SARS should be promptly evaluated by medical personnel and, if indicated, admitted to a hospital. Persons suspected of having SARS should limit their interactions outside hospital settings. Doctors now believe SARS may be caused by a previously unrecognized corona-virus and is spread by contact transmission and droplets (sneezing and coughing) To protect yourself and others from diseases spread by contact/droplet transmission:
Wearing a mask is recommended if you are in close contact with someone with SARS. Masks lose their effectiveness if worn continuously. The moisture of the human breath eventually renders the mask useless after 30 to 60 minutes of continuous wear. Please circulate this mail to other Swiss you know in Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The Consulate General will send regular updates to the community. If any Swiss citizen resident in Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu or Zhejiang did not get this communication directly from the undersigned, please contact me by email in order to be added on my mailing list. Best regards For the Consul General of Switzerland Beat Kaser
|
