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12 May 2003
Situation Update
There are no new probable cases today. One patient has been discharged, bringing the total number of patients who have recovered from SARS to 156. 20 patients remained hospitalised, of whom 8 are in intensive care.
The latest date of onset of a probable case is on 27 April 03. This case was isolated on 28 April 03. So far, there have been no cases reported with dates of onset later than 27 April 03.
Cluster of students from Bowen Secondary School
A 14-year-old student from Bowen Secondary School was admitted to TTSH on 10 May 03 for atypical pneumonia. She has no contact history with SARS patients or travel history to SARS affected areas. She is beginning to respond to antibiotics which indicates that the cause of her atypical pneumonia is unlikely to be due to SARS but to a bacterial infection. However as a precautionary measure, contact tracing was carried out among her contacts at school. About 120 contacts were identified and screened. Of these, six students were admitted to TTSH today for observation for low grade fever or cough. Their chest x-rays are normal. The other contacts will continued to be monitored closely.
New Suspect Cases
There are no new suspect cases today.
New Observation Cases
Ten patients were admitted today for observation. They comprise 6 students from Bowen Secondary School, 2 patients who had travelled to SARS-affected areas recently and 2 patients whose contact history has not been established.
Quarantine Figures*
#Discharged patients under home quarantine: 450
Contacts under home quarantine: 287
Total under home quarantine orders: 737
*Quarantine cases refer to those who are required to stay at home for precautionary reasons as they may have had contact with a SARS patient. These are healthy individuals.
# This is an added precautionary measure for discharged SARS patients as well as those with co-morbidities.
Summary of SARS cases
A summary of the SARS cases to date:
Discharged: 156
Hospitalised: 20 (including 8 in intensive care)
Deaths: 28
Probable Cases: 205*
Suspect Cases: 5
Total No. of Observation Cases: 20
*includes 1 case who died from non-SARs causes
Travel Advisory
MOH urges the public to heed the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s advice to postpone travel to Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Tianjin and Taipei until another time.