SARS scare - Government unprepared for outbreak

IF the public needed any proof of the lack of preparedness in this country in the event of an incidence of SARS, it was graphically illustrated in the case of the Chinese woman, who was considered a possible case of the virus.

Having presented herself on Friday evening at the Accident & Emergency unit in St Vincent’s Hospital with a high temperature, she was recognised as a possible case of SARS but released back into the community.

Subsequently, the gardaí had to be called in to find the woman in the hostel where she was staying and is now quarantined in another hospital.