- A hospital chief last night gave a warning to people
who think they have the deadly Sars virus: "Don't come here."
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- Michael McCabe, director of accident and emergency at
Morriston Hospital, Swansea, said it would be a disaster if someone wandered
into casualty because of the risk of contamination.
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- "People must not come to an A&E department unless
it is prearranged," he said.
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- "What would be a real dis-aster is someone turning
up and telling people in the reception area they have got Sars."
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- The Sars virus has so far accounted for almost 300 deaths
worldwide.
-
- The director-general of the World Health Organisation,
Gro Harlem Brundtland, asked on the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme
yesterday if Sars was the first global epidemic of the 21st Century, said,
"Yes, this is correct. It will historically be seen that way.
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- Among the 300 dead are hospital workers who caught the
illness from patients.
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- Three hospitals in Beijing have been closed because of
Sars infection and theatres, cinemas, internet cafes and other public entertainment
venues in the Chinese capital were also closed yesterday as China's health
ministry reported nine new deaths from the disease.
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- The fear of Sars remains high in the UK despite the fact
that there have been only six cases here. The University Hospital of Wales
in Cardiff has seen a jump in the number of people venturing into its A&E
department in the belief that they may have Sars but says that in every
case the fears have proved unfounded. However, the problem does not appear
universal, with Wrexham Maelor and Withy-bush hospitals not having dealt
with anyone who believes they have the disease.
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- Mr McCabe is urging patients who think they have Sars
to contact their GP rather than go to hospital so that measures can be
put in place to prevent transmission.
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- "We do not want people coming to hospital,"
he said. "Everything must be prearranged by their GP if they think
they have got a problem to avoid contamination of hospital facilities."
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- Swansea has had one suspected case of Sars but it ultimately
turned out not to be the killer Asian disease.
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- "We have had one false alarm and nothing else,"
said Mr McCabe. "Compared with other health scares it has been very
low-key.
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- "In terms of policies and procedures we are waiting
and have things in place; we will react appropriately. We have gowns and
masks and equipment and procedures to deal with any incident."
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- With Taiwan now reporting its first death from Sars,
and if its spread continues, it is possible that in the long term the Government
may have to designate Sars as a notifiable dis-ease. Such a move would
give the authorities broad powers to detain sufferers.
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- Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Liam Donaldson insists,
however, that what is required now is not new powers but increased vigilance.
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- "The main purpose of notification is to spot the
disease early, and we think at this stage we have got the best way of spotting
the disease early and we don't want to take our eye off the ball,"
he said yesterday.
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- "In all the six cases we have had so far none of
them would have been found at exit, on the plane or on entry. We found
them by good detective work in Britain, and that is what we need to keep
up."
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- Most cases of Sars remain confined to the Far East. Between
China and Hong Kong there have been more than 4,600 cases.
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- Most Sars deaths have been in China and Hong Kong, but
there have also been 23 in Singapore and 18 in Canada.
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- The World Health Organ-isation has confirmed that it
is reconsidering the travel warning it issued last week for Toronto, where
Sars claimed a 20th victim in Canada on Saturday.
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- http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/page.cfm?objectid=12897557&
- method=full&siteid=50082&headline=If%20you've%20got%20Sars%2C%20don't%
- 20go%20to%20hospital
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