Kuching prepared to handle influx of visitors

The state Health Department has taken steps to prevent the spread of influenza A (H1N1) at the three-day Rainforest World Music Festival at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Santubong. About 30,000 concert-goers are expected to gather at the festival beginning tomorrow.

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam said yesterday the department had prepared for the possible spread of the virus.

He said the department had set up a clinic at the Sarawak Cultural Village and set aside an isolation ward at the top floor of a new block at Sarawak General Hospital to treat patients. The ward has 100 rooms.

He said the department had prepared 50,000 tamiflu doses, 200,000 face masks, 20,000 medical gowns, 2,000 medical suits and plenty of surgical gloves.
Sarawak recorded two new confirmed cases of H1N1 yesterday, bringing the total in the state to 18.

One was a 12-year-old girl who contracted the disease while visiting Brunei last week.

She is being treated at Miri General Hospital while family members are quarantined at home.

The other is a 32-year-old woman who returned from London on July 3 and became sick two days later. She is being treated at Sarawak General Hospital.

Dr Chan said the Health Department was taking extra care of the woman's 1-year-old son so he would not get the disease, while her husband and Indonesian maid were home quarantined.

Source : NST
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