SWINE FLU: SINGAPOREANS SHOULD BE PREPARED

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, April 30 (Bernama) -- Singaporeans have been told to be "mentally
and psychologically" prepared in facing the current global swine flu outbreak as
it is expected to be a long-drawn one, the city state's top ministers said.

Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng and Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said
they also had to remain alert at all times and not to be unduly alarmed even if
Singapore could possibly be hit by the flu.

Speaking at a press conference to update on the swine flu outbreak at the
Information, Communications and the Arts Ministry here Wednesday, Wong said the
government was treating the swine flu outbreak as not a medical problem but a
total problem that required medical and non-medical response.

He said, unlike during the SARS crisis in 2003 when the government was
ill-prepared to handle it, the country was now more prepared to deal with
the swine flu outbreak and was deploying resources across all government
departments to tackle it.

Wong said swine flu was different from SARS as the victims could not be
easily identified and separated from the general public as the symptoms of the
flu were only visible and known after a week.

Khaw said as the swine flu was more contagious and spread more rapidly,
Singaporeans should maintain a high standard of personal hygiene such as
washing their hands before eating, and covering their face when coughing or
sneezing.

Describing it as a new war, he said the swine flu was more difficult to
deal with and more challenging, and he gave three reasons for saying that.

Firstly, he said the swine flu was more contagious; secondly, patients could
be infected before symptoms appeared, and lastly, historically, flu pandemic
tended to come in waves with the initial wave looking mild but the second one
could be quite lethal.

Since the global flu outbreak, only 17 cases had been referred to the local
medical institutions for checks for swine flu, and so far, four of the cases
were tested negative for Influenza A, the virus type associated with swine flu.

-- BERNAMA