The expert group set up by the Department of Health to monitor the threat of SARS has agreed that information leaflets are to be distributed at all points of entry into the Republic.
Despite the absence from the meeting of five experts in public health, who are on strike over pay and conditions, the group recommended that "additional measures be introduced at points of entry including the distribution of multilingual information leaflets".
Health boards have been distributing special masks to GPs in their areas which should be worn if they have to treat any suspected cases of the pneumonia-like virus. They are also being issued with masks for patients presenting with signs of the virus. The South Eastern Health Board said it had distributed most of its masks by yesterday.
There are also concerns about the lack of hospital isolation facilities. Dr Gerard Sheehan, an infectious diseases consultant at Dublin's Mater Hospital, said compared to most other healthcare systems in the developed world, "we are inadequate" in the number of isolation rooms available.
There is just one such room at the Mater, which has more than 500 beds. Dr Sheehan said single rooms might be adequate to treat SARS patients but they were almost always in use.