SINGAPORE LIFTS QUARANTINE ORDER ON TRAVELLERS TO MEXICO

SINGAPORE, May 16 (Bernama) - Singapore Saturday lifted the home quarantine
order on recent travellers to Mexico, citing the A H1N1 virus outbreak in Mexico
appeared to be cooling off with a fall in the number of new confirmed cases.

The republic's Health Ministry said the number of exported cases from Mexico
had also fallen significantly.

Since May 4, all persons with a travel history to Mexico over the past seven
days were issued a home quarantine order, which required them to be quarantined
for seven days when they enter Singapore.

The precautionary measure was implemented to limit the risk of the H1N1
virus entering the city-state.

Over a dozen travellers, both foreigners and Singaporeans were issued with
the order during the two weeks it was enforced.

In a statement, the ministry said it had reviewed the imposition of the
quarantine order after an authoritative recent study from the WHO Rapid Pandemic
Assessment Collaboration suggested that the estimated case fatality rate in
Mexico was lower at 0.4 percent.

In earlier calculation based on the latest case numbers reported by the
Mexican health authorities, 64 deaths out of 2,656 confirmed cases (as of 14 May
09), the case fatality rate was 2.4 percent.

The study said the apparently high reported case fatality rate was due to
large number of undiagnosed and hence unreported infected cases.

At 0.4 percent, the Mexican case fatality rate would be closer to the rate
as reported elsewhere, the ministry said.
--BERNAMA