The Chinese Ministry of Communications (MOC) issued an emergency circular Monday requiring relevant local departments to adopt tough measures to safeguard the nationwide daily transport of "healthy passengers, medicines, medical facilities and other medical materials" to better fight the contagious disease.
In response to reports of local governments shutting down passenger transportation and placing restrictions on freight transportation to epidemic regions like Beijing and Guangdong due to fears of mass Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) infection, the MOC maintains that such actions "have severely undermined social stability and will probably also undermine the nationwide transport of essential medical equipment and materials used in the combat against SARS."
According to the MOC emergency circular, no department or individual may shut down regular transportation between China's various regions. Vehicles passing through Beijing and other epidemic regions undergo strict disinfection procedures.
Temperature checks should be carried out on every passenger and driver, the MOC circular stressed.
Transportation stations are required by the ministry to carry out daily disinfection in public venues, facilities and vehicles and carry out a thorough registration of the passengers and drivers. These measures, the MOC official explained, make it much easier for drivers and passengers "to be traced in the event that they are suspected of having contracted SARS."
The MOC demands that the local departments concerned adhere strictly and honestly to their duty to report on the status of the disease, warning that delayed reporting, misreporting or underreporting will be subject to severe penalties.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2003)
