|
A Korean entered the country via Air China flight CA123 on Monday at 11:30 a.m. and was categorized as a "suspected SARS patient" after an examination, and was later classed as a "presumed SARS patient," the National Institute of Health said Tuesday. The terms are official ones used by the World Health Organization. The man, who was not identified, was returning to Korea after finishing a two-month language course in Beijing.
An official at the health institute, Kim Moon-sik, explained, "At Incheon Airport, the man's temperature was up to 38.2 degrees Celsius [100.7 degrees Fahrenheit] and he had muscle aches." Kim said the man was isolated at a hospital for further inspections and that X-ray results showed that he was infected with pneumonia, indicating that he had SARS.
Still, Kim said that the possibility that the man had fallen ill because of a non-SARS virus had not been excluded.
The health institute reported the man's case to the WHO, and secured a list of the 91 passengers and 12 crew members on the flight with him. The passengers and crew are now subject to examinations over the coming days.
The institute is concentrating on searching for suspected SARS patients at hospitals and clinics as 10,000 Korean students who were studying in China are returning.
(Park Joong-hyun, jhpark@chosun.com )
|
