Update (X) On SARS Cases In Singapore

23 Mar 2003

As at 23 March 03, a total of 51 people with SARS have been reported to the Ministry of Health. The 7 additional patients reported today comprise 3 hospital staff and 4 close contacts of patients. Three patients have been discharged from hospital. The other 48 patients are still in hospital. All the patients are stable except for 9 patients who are in serious condition.

To date, apart from the 3 initial people who had travelled to Hong Kong, a total of 24 family, friends and those who had close contacts with the cases, and 24 hospital staff have been diagnosed with SARS. So far, all the cases of SARS have been linked to the initial 3 cases. No new index cases have been reported. In addition, no further cases have occurred among hospital staff as a result of infection from known or suspected cases of SARS after the implementation of enhanced infection control precautions.

All suspected and probable cases, including pediatric cases, will be managed centrally at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and the Centre for Communicable Diseases. This will facilitate the management of these patients and reduce the risk of secondary transmission of the disease.

To free up TTSH's resources to isolate and treat all SARS cases, TTSH will not admit new patients for the next 2 weeks. As such, ambulance cases will be diverted to other hospitals and the public is advised to seek A&E care at other hospitals.

MOH would like to appeal to all parents whose children have been to Hong Kong, Guangdong province in China or Hanoi to closely monitor their children. They should not be sent to school if they have fever and should be seen by a doctor immediately.

The public should continue to avoid travel to Hong Kong, Hanoi and Guangdong province in China for the time being, unless absolutely necessary. This would help us greatly in our efforts to contain the number of new cases.

We also advise you to stay calm and continue with your daily routine. Though SARS is infectious, there is no need for alarm as your risk of catching SARS is low. WHO has reported that the disease is spread from person to person but only through close contact with an infected person. There is no evidence to date that the disease spreads through casual contact.

The Ministry would like to reiterate that you should seek immediate medical attention if you have:

- Fever (more than 38 degree celsius) and respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath or breathing difficulty;

AND

- have travelled to Hong Kong, Hanoi or Guangdong province in China, within 2 weeks of onset of the symptoms; or

- are a close contact of persons diagnosed with SARS. (Close contact means having cared for, having lived with, or having had direct contact with respiratory secretions and body fluids of a person with SARS)

Unless you have the above symptoms AND a similar travel history or personal contact with infected persons, the Ministry urges the public to seek the advice of a GP first and not go to the Communicable Disease Centre to avoid bogging down its resources.

Ministry of Health

23 March 2003

MOH Hotline for queries : 1800-2254122