Doctors are to be given new powers within days to force into quarantine anyone in the State suspected of having SARS who does not wish to be isolated.
The announcement of the new provisions, which will be enforced by directors of public health and if necessary the gardaí, came as the Mater Hospital in Dublin began investigating a new suspect case of SARS. A number of striking public health doctors agreed to help investigate it.
The patient involved had just returned from Toronto, where there have been 20 deaths from the virus. Yesterday the Department of Health lifted its warning against travelling to Toronto.
The new quarantine powers will be introduced by an order signed by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, under the Infectious Diseases Regulations of 1981. It will also cover compulsory quarantining, if required, of contacts of suspected SARS cases.
The Department of Health's chief medical officer, Dr Jim Kiely, said yesterday the order was "prepared and ready for signing in the next day or two".
Today, the State's SARS expert group will be briefed by a specialist from the World Health Organisation, Dr Richard Pebody, on how it should deal with the threat of SARS posed by athletes from SARS-affected countries travelling to Ireland for the Special Olympics next month.
Meanwhile, the director of the National Disease Surveillance Centre, Dr Darina O'Flanagan, said yesterday the large numbers of new SARS cases being reported on a daily basis in China was a cause for concern. She said SARS remained "a potential threat to public health" in Ireland and there was a need for vigilance by all.
Games party shocked by Clonmel refusal: page 12