Varsities keep travellers at home

By PAULA OLIVER AND NZPA

University and polytechnic staff who have travelled to areas affected by the pneumonia-like disease Sars are being forced to stay at home when they return.

The first affected are three Massey University staff who returned from overseas late last week to find they were required to work from home until the disease's incubation period had passed.

Other universities have drawn up similar plans as the respiratory disease yesterday spread into a new part of Hong Kong and more deaths were reported in Canada, China and Singapore.

In Rotorua, two Waiariki Institute of Technology staff who are due to return from Hong Kong and Thailand shortly will also find themselves put into a work-from-home quarantine.

Institute chief executive Reynold McPherson said the Rotorua pair, who had been doing work for the international studies department, would be forced to stay home for 10 days.

"They'll be using telephones and their email for quarantine purposes," Dr McPherson said.

Both staff members have kept in close contact with the institute while away, but despite their reporting that they are in excellent health the quarantine will be observed.

Auckland and Victoria Universities and Auckland University of Technology yesterday confirmed they planned similar quarantine periods for staff who had travelled to affected areas.

AUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor Derek McCormack said if staff felt that working from home was a risk to their families, the university would pay for motel accommodation.

The latest efforts to stop the spread of the disease come as both the death toll and the number of Sars cases continue to grow.

Nearly 2800 suspected cases have been reported worldwide and the death toll has climbed to more than 100.

Hong Kong hospitals are bracing for a possible tripling of cases from the present 883.

Six more nurses have been infected in three different Singapore hospitals, and despite precautions taken by airports and airlines to screen sick passengers, India has reported its first suspected case, involving a US citizen who fell ill after travelling to Bombay from China.

Portugal has also confirmed its first case of Sars.

Quarantine policy

* Some universities have decided to quarantine staff at home if they have travelled to a Sars-affected country. Others have not.

* AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY

Staff must stay at home for 10 days on return from travel. Guidelines for students are being issued today.

* AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Staff are required to work from home for 10 days after returning. If they are worried about infecting their family, motel accommodation will be paid for.

* WAIKATO UNIVERSITY

Information on Sars has been sent to staff and students but the university is not enforcing a quarantine for well people. It says it is following Ministry of Health advice.

* VICTORIA UNIVERSITY

All staff must observe a 10-day, no-contact period. They can visit the campus, but must not have contact with others. Travel to affected countries on university business is banned.

* CANTERBURY UNIVERSITY

No quarantine is in place for well people who have travelled to affected countries. The university says it is following advice closely.